The Fury of Heaven and Hell
by Naughtbeast
Summary: With Beacon Academy lost to Salem's forces, our protagonists are left with few options on how to continue... but that doesn't mean they don't have a plan. With limited resources and time they must push back the forces that seek to destroy Humanity... all the while fighting their inner Demons... (Volume 2 of Angels and Demons)
1. A new beginning

**And we're back peeps!**

 **As a fore-warning to anyone reading this, the following story is a continuation of my other Titanfall/RWBY fanfic 'Angels and Demons' so you might want to read that so you can catch up on the action, but if you don't want to then I'll try and make this story at least explain some of the past plot points so you're not thrown under the bus so to say...**

 **... I bet you all thought it would be another month before you saw this...**

 **As always, PLEASE REVIEW! I have little to no feedback on how I'm doing so leave any comments or questions you may have...**

 **And without further adieu... THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF MY INSANE STORY!**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 1:

Legends… Myths… Fables… these things all make up the history of many of our cultures, yet they are all just that... falsehoods. Stories that have been made from the frail and confused minds of those upon the mortal plane, trying to comprehend the possibilities of something they witnessed. They may not all be correct, but they all have something in common… in every one, there is a grain of truth and no matter how small they are, they are always found.

So, I would ask you 'what fairy tales would you believe in' but I am merely here to tell you of one… the one that explains the reason behind the strange occurrences that have made themselves known of late.

This tale is of the creation of our world… or worlds depending on who you ask. It was formed by two gods, both being brothers. The eldest was a benevolent god, one that fostered all life, bringing water, plants and wildlife into the world whilst the sun shone down. The younger brother, however, made his presence known at the time when the moon brought its pale light, creating drought, fire and famine. Yet, through all this, the older brother endured and was there to bring new life day after day.

The younger brother, growing jealous from his failed attempts, created beings whose only purpose was to destroy anything and everything, hoping to end his elder brother's creations. The elder brother grew weary of this constant bickering and proposed a plan, a way for both brothers to be happy with their new creation. They created humanity, creatures that were capable of the destruction wrought by the younger and the creation sewed by the elder.

They were gifted with powers that would ultimately define their existence… knowledge, the ability to learn and adapt from their experiences… creation, the gift of bringing new life into the world… destruction, the ability to raze all of creation to the ground at a whim… and lastly, choice, the ability to forge their own paths into a world of their own making, free of the confines that are set by the gods themselves. Each of these gifts were given a physical form in the mortal realm, a manifestation to remind their creations of these gifts.

Now, I'm sure this tale has been said multiple times over throughout the history of humanity, although there are some things that even their creations did not know. After the creation of Humanity and the four relics, the gods were left drained of power so they used what was left and bestowed this power on eight of their creations, both of Grimm and of Humanity. Four Grimm Alpha's were gifted the powers of destruction, ensuring that there is always a balance between both good and evil, while Humanity was gifted powers that fostered creation, the powers of the four seasons.

Both the creatures of Grimm and Humanity lived in harmony for the beginning of their existence, pleasing the two brothers and allowing them to fall into a slumber that would last for an eternity, although once the brothers gazes fell from watching their creations, their word was no longer law.

One of the four beings of the Grimm grew jealous of their powers, claiming that they held less power in comparison to the four Seasons and so, set about to change that. They absorbed the power of two of the other Alpha's and forced the other to retreat to a place that had long been abandoned by the brothers so as to escape. Although, without the full power of all four Grimm Alpha's the last remaining truly did hold a fraction of what the four seasons could wield.

When she began her crusade against Humanity, the four seasons gave them a weapon with which to destroy the creatures of Grimm… Dust. With the power imbalance in play, the Alpha could not hold back the might of Humanity and retreated to their last bastion of defence, seething with hate and anger towards Humanity and plotting their revenge for the rest of their existence, until an opportunity would present itself in their favour. This Alpha would forever be known as 'She who Corrupts', a testament to how she divided the two species forever.

While the war against the Grimm raged, the forgotten Alpha had found its own bastion in a forgotten world that had been left by the brothers, one in which there were no Grimm… but that did not mean there were no evil… for there is no greater evil than man itself. While wars weren't being fought, they were being planned and it was clear that humanity was going to wipe itself out before it ever made an impact, one of the reasons why it was left, so when they discovered the ability to 'warp' across great distances then perhaps the distance could allow for a more peaceful existence? As it turns out, it didn't… and soon, it was the same across the cosmos as it was on their home planet.

While this may have been against the overall theme of things, it worked perfectly for the lone Alpha as it stayed close to the slaughter, regaining the power he had lost through the world shift, gaining enough to re-break the barrier between the worlds… although that also allowed for those from that universe to travel through the rift with ease, although that wasn't a problem as most of them were soon killed.

Once it came back to its home world, it didn't take long for the other remaining Alpha to pick up its scent and it was tracked down and nearly killed, having to break back through the barrier and hide once again in the folds of the other world. The weaker Alpha devised a plan that would allow it to pass into the world undetected and did so flawlessly, passing through the rift without any detection and beginning to ruin the plans of 'She who Corrupts' from the shadows, limiting its power so that it was left undetected.

And so… this is how the legend goes… those that are lost can always be found, whether it be wanted or needed, there is always a way… but there are always those that seek to keep it lost forever.

 **[Vale industrial district]**

The night was still young in the kingdom of Vale, the moon only licking the fringes of the city with its pale light and giving its inhabitants rest from the hardships that the day brought. As the regular hustle and bustle of the Black-Market district sprawled throughout the re-purposed warehouses near the docks, no-one noticed the discreet and inconspicuous group that made their way purposefully though the crowd. They moved with practiced ease and didn't once shift any of the other occupants to draw attention to themselves, yet they still managed to make it across the rather large warehouse in record time, making it to their destination without disturbing anything.

The group of four men, all dressed in black and red, bowler hats and sunglasses to complete the entire 'thug' get-up, although they perfectly fit in with the darker parts of the markets. The men casually changed course and walked down a dark alley, walking to the end and rapping three times on the door, being ushered in after a slide opened and their identities were checked. They quickly made haste through the door, passing armed guards which held rather large assault rifles in hand with fingers glancing over the triggers every couple of moments.

The men passed through multiple other rooms until they made it to the final, a massive armed thug holding an LMG outside the door stopping them before they could take another step. A short conversation followed and they were let through, the door opening into a conversation between three men, the four bowing out of respect for interrupting them.

One was obviously the leader, standing taller than the other two and wearing ceremonial garb that denoted his rank, tattoos running up both arms and the large symbol of the White Fang emblazoned on his back. He wore a Grimm mask over his face, much like the rest, although a large chainsaw over his back hinted at his martial prowess with more… unique weaponry.

"Sir, we found something you might want to see…" spoke one of the men, taking off their hat to reveal two wolf ears, the other three doing the same to show similar animal appendages.

"Why do you find it pressing enough to interrupt this meeting with my… business partners"

"We found one of the strange Atlesian Paladins that were at Beacon"

"Why would I have use of one of those, we already wasted three of the robots at that stupid bid for control… they are not worth our time"

"But sir, it's completely unguarded in a warehouse a few hundred metres from here! We did a search and there is no presence other than us!"

"Fine, give me some time and I shall meet you to recover the asset"

 **[1 hour later…]**

A large force of White Fang grunts and the Lieutenant stood outside the closed warehouse door that had been marked with the signature claw symbol, their informants showing that this was indeed where the mech was located. They were waiting for the signal from one of their scouts, weapons held at the ready and their fingers nervously twitching in anticipation. They weren't expecting any resistance although it had been a long time since any operations and they were itching for a fight, not caring with who or what, just that there was one.

A small flash went off from down the corridor, signalling for the raiding party to begin… and so they did. The lieutenant revved his chainsaw and cut through the flimsy sheet metal of the roller door and making a hole wide enough so that they could get through comfortably. The initial force went through, about 10 men, before another signal was given and the rest came through.

They swept their rifles around the massive warehouse, trying to find anything that might hinder them, although they already had their prize in sight. In the centre of the warehouse with no boxes or anything else surrounding it was a massive mech, hunched over with its fist on the ground and weapon locked onto its back, no lights indicating that it was active in any way. Four grunts and the Lieutenant made their way forward, leaving the other grunts to take care of anyone wanting to interrupt their raid, then began inspecting the merchandise.

It wasn't some time that the five closest to the Titan noticed the fact that there was no noise coming from the others… and even longer for them to turn around and see two figures standing in the centre of the knocked-out grunts that they hadn't heard from. Both were obscured in darkness, thanks to the lack of lighting inside the warehouse, but one stood barely up to the shoulders of the other, being much thinner than the burly figure they stood next to. Just as the Lieutenant was about to issue an order, one of the figures spoke up.

"Neo, if you would, I endeavour to speak to the Lieutenant alone"

The smaller figure nodded and disappeared from view, the Lieutenant barely having a second to register what had happened before the other four of his accomplices were slumped to the floor unconscious. He revved his chainsaw in rage and swung it to where the figure struck last, although all he heard was the sound of shattering glass before he looked back to see both standing where they were before.

"What do you want from me?" the Lieutenant growled, clutching his chainsaw at the ready in case they struck again.

The other, larger figure stepped forward so that he could be seen in what little light there was… and the Lieutenant's blood froze. He had already guessed that the smaller person was Torchwick's little sidekick and that already made him fearful of whoever was now controlling the little sadist, although now that he saw who it was it amplified it even more.

The first thing he saw was the armour, a thick and plated red steel that covered just about every part of his body, dark red chainmail glinting wherever there weren't the massive plates of steel. A Grimm mask covered their face, not one that was employed by the White Fang, rather one that was almost an exact replica of one of the most feared Huntresses in existence, while he held Wilt in his off hand, the weapon of the old boss of the Vale White Fang. He had seen this boy fight before, back during the attack on the academy and he had taken out the platoon that was sent specifically to take care of him, mercilessly slaughtering all but the last one.

The Lieutenant was informed by Adam right before he went off to find the deserter that he was to kill the boy, only he didn't have any way to reach him before he had already began to fly off to the Atlesian cruiser overhead. He almost laughed when he saw it crash into the massive Grimm dragon, although the feeling was cut from him when he saw the boy jump from the wrecked ship and escape nearly unharmed as he almost effortlessly escaped the falling wreckage.

It wasn't until he found Adam dead in the academy's dining hall with a snapped neck did he give up on his mission and ordered a full-scale retreat of all White Fang in the area to salvage what was left of their failed mission. Then, during the last few moments of the evacuation, when the last of the Bullheads lifted off with him in it did he truly find a reason to fear the boy as he witnessed what he could only describe as hell on Remnant as the Grimm dragon was made to look like a toy compared to what he saw and even then… he didn't exactly have a reason NOT to fear the person he saw before him.

Demon… the only name that he knew him by and the only one that he found fitting, so that was how he was going to keep it.

"What do you want…" the Lieutenant re-iterated, his voice wavering and the grip on his weapon tightening in fear.

"I want your co-operation…" Demon said simply, not making any moves other than standing where he was. Despite everything, the Lieutenant bunched whatever confidence he had left and bundled it into his next sentence.

"I refuse to work with you, Human cur! The last time we went on a 'business venture' we lost everything! We aren't an organisation for hire! We fight for Faunus rights and that means NOT working for whatever you have planned… I don't care if I die here, as long as the White Fang continues what it has been doing for so long!"

Demon made a clicking sound with his tongue a couple of times before walking forward a few more paces so that his voice was even more clear to the Lieutenant.

"I agree with everything you just said, bar one… I am not wanting your organisation as a group of thugs, I simply want to work WITH you in similar goals but… I am going to change how you win your war. People don't need to die for you to get equal rights and I know a way how"

"That's not possible!" spat back the Lieutenant, seemingly throwing behind him whatever fear he had, "The only time the damned Humans ever cared about us is when we fight! And then what do we get? An island in the middle of nowhere just so we would shut up! It's discrimination and the only way we can get equal rights is by taking the people in power down…"

"I agree… although I don't agree with your methods. It can be achieved without bloodshed and that is what I am offering you. A co-operation agreement so that you can get the rights you've always wanted and I can get what I want…"

"And what would that be?"

"My little secret" cryptically replied Demon, pressing a button which activated the massive Mech in the warehouse. The Lieutenant jumped to the side out of instinct, expecting a blow to land where he was, only to turn and see that it hadn't even moved from where it stood. "In return for your co-operation, I will give you this as well as providing one of your operatives with enough experience to operate it, including the weapons that you now see on it…"

"And what do you want from us?"

"A ceasefire… a broadcasted signal to lay down your arms for six months, no more and no less… after that, our agreement ends and you can do whatever you want"

"I cannot expect my men to stand down for that long with only the payment of a robot…"

"Then how does taking down the SDC sound…"

The Lieutenant's eyes widened and he slowly and reluctantly let go of his weapon, holding it to his side.

"I'm listening…"

 **[2 days later…]**

Five figures sat around a table in the corner of one of Vale's backwater bars, various drinks sitting ono the table in front of them. They were talking in hushed tones, easily drowned out by the scrabble of the rest of the occupants, although they didn't speak as though it needed to be secret, just that it was easier if they spoke quietly.

"So, when is Demon getting back?" queried one of them, her long golden hair flowing down her back and twin bracers easily visible on the oaken table as she held a large stein of beer. Yang Xiao Long hadn't been to a bar for quite some time and honestly had forgotten the greatness of drinking the night away, although this night was arguably more important than her other drunken ventures.

It had been two months since the fall of Beacon and one since she found her thought-to-be-dead brother and Tempest, her boyfriend, although during that time she hadn't been able to do much other than making some adjustments to her combat style, compliments of the Pilots and their spare gear. She had chosen to leave the newer additions to her arsenal back at home and had chosen to wear her old outfit from back when they had taken down the Atlesian Paladin and nearly caught Torchwick.

"He said he'd be back when he's sorted stuff out with the White Fang" answered the only other girl, Kira, in between swigs of her smaller drink, a large sniper rifle propped up on the seat next to her, showcasing a large blade that ran across its length and the .908 calibre rounds that it chambered.

"Well that was an hour ago, it shouldn't take that long to threaten them into compliance!" complained Yang, taking a large swig of her stein and draining most of it.

"I don't think his plan was to threaten them, rather to make sure it was mutual agreeance…" explained the boy next to her, Tempest. He sat with his feet up on the wooden table and massive stein almost double the size of Yang's… and doubly empty. The handles of his two shotguns poked over his shoulders, Hellraisers, while the light glinted off the large knife blades that ran along the top of the barrels. He didn't bother to change his gear so he was still wearing his pilot body armour with his helmet resting on the table beside his legs, doing nothing to cover the almost permanent grin that seemed to cover his face.

"You'd expect him to be able to do all this shit in like a day or so with that broken semblance of his…" interrupted another at the table. Josh Dakkery, his normal golden body armour forgone for wearing a green hoodie and blue jeans, a pair of sunglasses kept over his eyes despite the low lighting of the club.

"We could always use the tracking chip that I implanted on his armour…" put in one of the others, Markus this time. The team's resident scientist and researcher had been busy over the last two months, at the request of Josh, with this outing being one of the few he had been able to steal in this time. He wore a casual grey jumper and brown cargo shorts, although the large robotic hand was not covered, the man fiddling with a complex looking graph at the current moment.

"Five lien says he's already found it…" Tempest put in, smiling as after a few moments Markus frowned and handed over the specified bet.

Just as they were about to continue, the doors to the bar were shoved open by just the man they were looking for… Demon. He shouldered through them without much effort and went up to the barmaid that was serving the drinks, placing an order and paying before he made his way over to the table. Kira moved her sniper rifle, newly dubbed Silent Reaper, over to the side and let him take a seat next to the group.

"So… how'd it go?" asked Yang as he sat down, not giving him even a second of rest. He groaned as he did and grabbed her stein, drinking a bit before she could react and putting it down after she punched him in the side.

"We've got the White Fang on board, how did you guys go on your end?"

"The Atlesian Military already secured us a transport to Atlas in the coming days, we've been given the go-ahead to jump on any military frigates we want to" Markus reported, bringing up a file on his screen and showing it to Demon, receiving a nod of appreciation then going back to what he was doing before.

"We got Junior on our side, although I'm sure he's just doing it so I don't wreck his club again…" Yang reported, taking another swig of her beer and wiping her mouth.

"Well that's better than I expected, we've got just about everything we need… so how'd you go with your stuff Tempest?"

"I still don't get why you're making me talk to your bloody army, can't you just do it yourself?"

"For one… she scares the shit out of me and I need someone to keep tabs on them while I do things around here!"

"What are you even talking about?" interrupted Kira, breaking the two's conversation. They both went quite for a few seconds until Demon came up with something.

"Well, I managed to hack a couple of the Atlesian knights from the attack and got them up and running again, I'm just getting Tempest to check on them every once in a while, to see that they're fine"

"Sure… so what's the plan now, we practically have the entirety of Vale under our control, what exactly are we going to do with that power?" asked Yang, finishing off her stein and passing it to the barmaid as she walked past. Tempest's eyes glazed over and he spoke before anyone else had the chance.

"All that's left is to call ourselves the Black Knights and rename Demon as Zero and then we've got ourselves a perfect set-up to overthrow a person that basically controls one third of the planet!"

 **(Cookie for anyone who gets the reference)**

As normal, everyone ignored his slightly insane antics and Demon answered with the actual plan.

"As I've said before, you guys head to Mistral and help Ruby and the others finish up with whatever they need while I bring RWBY back together…"

"How come I don't go and get the others! They're in my team anyway!" Yang complained, being silenced when Demon just gave her a blank stare in return.

"Right now, Salem and Cinder think I'm dead so when they find that you're trying to bring RWBY back together then she'll try and end you while I'm a bit more inconspicuous, on top of that I doubt you'll be able to find either of them, as well as the fact that Ruby needs a badass to help her out when she tries to take down the big bads… plus, I don't want to face Rosaline when she finds out I'm alive"

Yang just replied with an 'are you shitting me' look before just accepting the fact, deciding to move the conversation to another topic.

"So where exactly did you put that pint-sized, ice-cream assassin?" she asked, sounding like it was more of an order than a question. After Demon had found out the true identity of the girl, thanks to his mother, he decided that he would be a bit lenient with her case as well, given that he was literally the boyfriend of an IMC grunt. He had confronted her with the information and she had originally tried to run, until Demon proved to her that he wasn't going to hand her in or anything, he just wanted answers. She explained her situation to him, all the while as he looked for any signs of lying or anything, then when she was finished, he decided to give her two options.

He would give her free passage to Vacuo and let her start a new life… or she could stay with them and help them take back Vale and take down Salem… and you might be able to guess which one she chose. The reason for his lenience was the rather touching story that she had told of her entire involvement with Cinder in the first place.

She had been taken in by Torchwick while she was only 8 and homeless on the streets, being introduced to the life of crime, not by the man himself but rather when she began working in an underground gambling ring for money. A gang of thugs had broken in and threatened the owner, letting her discover her… knack for killing. Soon after, Torchwick had to hide her from the other gangs as revenge for the killings, until he made the mistake of beginning to work for Cinder when she offered protection for the ice-cream girl.

They performed robberies and the like for her, Neo staying out of it for the first part until Torchwick was nearly caught by RWBY after they took down the Paladin he was in. She forced herself to take on the mentality of a sadist while she was on the job just so that they would begin to fear her as well as the man with the cane. It was when she was moments from killing Yang that she truly began considering what she was doing. If she didn't kill the girl then she risked being cut loose from Cinder and losing the power she had, then again, she didn't want to end an innocent person's life.

She thanked whatever god was out there when Raven showed up, using it as an excuse to get out of there. She was scolded greatly after that, both for the fact that the Breach failed and that Torchwick was captured. She was given the chance to redeem herself when Cinder gave her the opportunity to rescue him from the Atlesian Cruiser he was being held on and turn the Atlesian robots against the defenders… although it wasn't her plan to go through with it.

After much argument with Torchwick, they decided to go through with the plan and they released the virus, breaking the firewalls and watching in horror as they turned on the defenders of the academy. Once Ruby showed up and opened her parasol to make her fly off, she only had time to look back and see Roman being swallowed by a Gryphon.

Once Torchwick died, she literally lost the only person that meant anything in her life. She barely realised it when Rosaline caught her and brought her back to the ground, dropping her off and instructing her to evacuate. She just managed to make it to the evacuation zone before she broke down, going into hiding before Cinder realised she was alive. Once she thought it was safe, she travelled back to Beacon and found the Gryphon nest, slaughtering each and every one of them until she found the one that had eaten him, being surprise to find that only his hat and cane were left in perfect condition.

And that leaves us where they were now.

"Ummm… I left her to do the cleaning with Jaeger…"

"You made her work!" Kira exclaimed, giving him a death glare until he explained.

"She offered… plus she has like an infinite supply of Neopolitan ice-cream there and she doesn't drink… it was either coming here and dealing with Yang or doing a couple of jobs back in the warehouse… plus I made Jaeger do most the work himself.

"How did you bribe him into doing that?" Josh asked, not at all wondering why the narcissist agreed to actually do work when he was literally the laziest person when it came to doing things.

"He seemed surprisingly keen after I said that he'd be by himself and that Neo would be dropping in later… I wonder why?"

 **[Back at the warehouse with Jaeger and Neo]**

"You know, it's a great thing that you don't interrupt me or anything, it's hard to find someone who appreciates my sheer perfection" Jaeger spoke, straining to make his voice heard over the drone of a vacuum cleaner, one that he was using to keep the warehouse floor clean of dust and any other obstructions.

Neo was sitting with her legs crossover over one another on top of one of the large stacks of pylons in a corner, parasol over her back and a bucket of ice-cream held in her grasp. She was silently watching the Pilot clean the majority of the entire warehouse, laughing on the inside at his antics… and choice of clothing.

He was going about his business in the weirdest of outfits, being a French maid costume, which she didn't even bother to question where he had got it from, let alone why he was wearing it. When she tilted her head in confusion when she first saw him in it, he only replied with 'it accentuates my curves…', to which she nearly collapsed on the floor in a laughing fit.

Then again, she didn't mind… watching a man clean an entire warehouse in a French maid outfit certainly made for an interesting day.

"So, did I miss anything?" he asked as the vacuum cleaner powered down and he leant against a wall to rest. Neo hummed for a bit before poking a finger at the fridge… and the massive trail of melted ice-cream that led to where she was sitting. Jaeger just sighed and got to work again… strangely enough whistling to himself.

Neo just laughed on the inside again and got back to doing the work Demon had told her to do… ensuring that at least one corner of the warehouse was covered in melted ice-cream…


	2. A gift from an unlikely place

**And so we have another chapter loyal fans...**

 **You might not know but I'm still swamped with exams and so it'll be a while until the next chapter...**

 **As always, PLEASE leave a review with any feedback... unless it's hatemail**

 **ONTO THY NEXT CHAPTER WE READ!... another chapter to keep the speculation up and add more to the glorious lore of the story**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 2:

Not having a heart was an interesting thing when you think about it. You still have blood in your body… it's just clotted and not moving, as there isn't really anything to push it through. So, if one were to re-start the heartbeat it still wouldn't do anything if the blood was clotted as it wouldn't move… it wasn't really a problem, although right now, Demon was having more trouble getting both his heart and blood to work at the same time.

He had gone back to the hospital to check on the progress of the girl that he had picked up from under Beacon. During the time she had been there, she had apparently awoken several times according to the doctor, although he hadn't been there when she had. The doctor had managed to worm some details out of her, although nothing too vital because she quote-en-quote, 'has too much amnesia to care right now', although she did find out that her name was Amber.

Back with Demon, he had procured an empty room and a couple of the necessary machines that he would need, being glad that it was a slow time of the month for the hospital and they could spare the equipment. As he was now, he had strapped himself down onto one of the operation tables with the room's door locked shut and the lights dimmed so that anyone passing would assume that it was just out of commission. He didn't wear anything over his chest, revealing the massive hole that led to his heart. When the pole had impaled him, it had pushed all the way through his chest and stopped just as it was about to pass through the other side, the armour being just enough to stop it from going completely through, although it did leave the massive hole going straight through.

It was anyone's guess how he still had a heart given that it was literally hanging down into hole perfectly intact. The other poles were less serious and most of them had been much shallower, being healed much quicker thanks to the tiny trickle of his aura that was repairing the damage.

As he was laying on the table, several tubes pumped different concoctions into his veins in a feeble attempt to make it better, although it wasn't really as effective given that he didn't have a proper blood flow. Most of them were to un-clot his blood, working well enough, although it was the anaesthetics that were meant to make the self-operation easier that completely failed, being that it didn't do anything… at all… which meant he had to do the entire thing without painkillers.

It had gone well to start off with, being that he was able to use a mirror to check up on everything inside and insert a small electrical buzzer onto his heart to act as a kick-starter, then it was only a matter of making sure that the blood was flowing… which wasn't going too well. He had un-clotted most of it, it was just that the blood around his heart was still stuck and he didn't want to inject it with the concoction in case he bled to death… which he didn't expect to happen anyway but didn't want to risk it.

At the moment, he was mumbling to himself as he thumped the activator switch on the buzzer, sending electrical volts through his heart in hopes of jump-starting it… which actually managed to work. His heart began thumping as it began to try and pump the blood around his body, only it didn't seem to be moving anything. He tested it by cutting the tip of his finger with a scalpel… only for nothing to come out of the cut.

"Just great…"

That was really his only plan if he was brutally honest and he didn't know what to do if it didn't work. He didn't want to get anyone to know about his… condition, being that if they blabbered even the tiniest bit, he'd have the entirety of Atlas at his back for experimentation… or worse. It was at this point that the thing he hated decided to show its ugly face again… the voice in his head. It wasn't Kalazar as he thought it was when he first heard it, although it did seem familiar.

 **"Hmm… it is quite amusing to see you like this…"**

 _What do you want and who are you!_

 **"Am I so easily forgotten… it is almost insulting if I didn't find you acknowledgement affronting in the first place"**

Demon did remember though, it was back during his coma after nearly being killed by Yang that he first heard the voice, then another time during his memory re-collection.

 **"Yes, that is right… you do remember me after all"** responded the voice in mockery, almost as if it read his mind.

 _What… do… you… want!_

 **"It's easy mortal, I just want the little voice in your head… nothing much… just tell me where you are and I can free you of his grasps"**

Wait, she was offering a way to get him out of my head… but he wasn't even here anyway.

 _He isn't even in my mind anymore…_

 **"That might be true as it would explain my being able to enter your mind without his interruption… although I still feel a connection"**

 _I don't know where he is! Just leave and let me get back to this!_

 **"How about a we make a compromise?"**

 _Something tells me that you're not going to leave until I accept…_

 **"Hmmmm, very perceptive of you, although I will not disclaim my intentions, I shall tell you they will aid you greatly…"**

 _How…_

 **"By getting rid of that voice in your head, you shall be free of his control finally… you didn't actually believe the lies that he fed you…"**

 _And if I did?_

 **"Then you will regret it later… for now, I am willing to give you a show of my good will… a reason for you to think over receiving my help and finally understand that I am trying to free you!"**

 _I'm getting the feeling I don't have a choice right now… and a slight feeling that you probably could have killed me by now…_

The voice didn't answer, but Demon felt a strange feeling come over his body, working its way towards his heart. He looked into the mirror and saw a dark energy had surrounded him, similar to the way it had when Kalazar took control, only it felt different…

He barely had any time to think before he saw it begin to cover up the hole in his chest and he quickly reached down into the hole and took out the device he used to jump-start his heart, barely pulling his hand out in time before the wound closed over. The energy seemed to turn even darker until it resembled Obsidian, losing the small glow about it as the wound was sealed. He reached up to touch the place where his wound was, only to find that the strange energy had hardened to an almost crystalline texture and that even if he scraped the talons of his gauntlets over it, not even a scratch could be seen.

 _What did you do!_

 **"My my, I thought that a gentleman would start off by thanking me…"**

 _I'll thank you the second I know what the hell you did!_

 **"Why, I saved you life! I think that even the smallest part of appreciation should be shown after that…"**

 _Ummm… thanks I guess? But why did you save me?_

 **"As I said before, as a show of good faith, I hope you do take me up on my offer and inform me of your whereabouts so that I can come and collect the pest that has resided in your mind… for now, I wish you good fortune and speed on your travels, although I hope the next time we will meet as friends, not as the enemy's you make us to be…"**

 _Wait… are you that Salem chick? The one that commanded the attack on Beacon!_

 **"Not an attack, a simple mission to reclaim what was stolen from its rightful place… the Headmaster had no right to take what was mine and I made sure he paid for it…"**

 _You might want to get your info right lady, I saw him walk out of the with my own eyes…_

 **"Impossible, he was silenced… his presence is no longer tainting this world, his body has already been laid to rest from his passing"**

 _Yeah right… well if you are Salem then there is no way that I'm working with you, even less of a chance that I'll give you Kalazar… so could you PLEASE piss off and go back to wherever you came from!_

 **"You insolent brat… you question the gifts I give you and reject my offer to rid you of an obvious grievance! Think of your mistakes during the last seconds of your life you fool!"**

Demon instantly regretted what he said… mainly because of the massive pain that now flowed through his body as the crystal in his chest seemed to glow a bright amber and he heard the singing of his flesh as it began to burn him, Salem laughing maniacally in the background, barely audible above his pain. He knew right there and then that this was when he was going to die and the voice knew it to… if only she hadn't accounted for the fact that she had made a certain someone a whole lot less busy.

 **"GET OUT!"** came the deep and commanding voice of Kalazar, once again filling the mind of Demon, although it didn't exactly have the desired effect. With three beings, all fighting for control of one mind, there is little once can say for the safety of said processor, mainly being that it is very hard for the host to think straight, let alone realise what is happening.

Although, in the confusion, it eventually ended up saving his life. As the power Salem had over him began burning him with renewed vigour, it gave Kalazar more time to focus his efforts, severing the mental link they had after a few moments and stopping the searing pain in his chest, although Demon still did pass out from the energy surging through him, his head hitting the hard metal of the operations table while his eyes rolled back and tongue lolled out.

Kalazar waited for a few moments, pulling up the ethereal barrier he had worked so hard to preserve and hoped that his host had not given in to Salem, for if he did then all was lost. He took the time to worm his way around the chasms of his host's mind, fixing the mental barriers that were broken by the mental assault, then once everything had been returned to normal, he came across the problem of his heart. Due to the massive power drain he had during the battle at Beacon, he had little power to keep his host alive and so, resorted to expending all of it from preventing his death.

Once Salem had lifted him of his burden he quickly realised that she had managed to enter his host's mind, giving him reason to re-surge his power and rid them of her hindrance before she could scry their location and ruin all his plans. His powers were once again shifted to fixing the dark energy that had coated his heart, Kalazar focusing on bringing the power under his will so that not even a hint of it was completely Salem's. It took some time, but the energy eventually shifted to his will and his power began coursing through it, the crystal changing to a dark red sheen that resembled dried blood within a ruby.

He had little patience to explain the complexities that now resided as his host's false life force but he knew that it meant one thing… he had won against his enemy. The crystal was a pure collection of the life-force that made-up Grimm, a veritable life-essence that was unique to them and was, in simplicity, pure power. It was able to be moulded and formed to whatever form the wielder wished, although only those proficient in the art could do so, this Salem using one of its lighter properties to heal the boy.

As Kalazar checked his hosts vitals once again, he saw that his heart was now still working, unaffected by the strange energy around it, while his blood was flowing faster than normal around his body, mostly thanks to the anti-clotting mixtures and that the heart was working overtime to send oxygen to the boys deprived muscles, something that Kalazar had to do for some time.

Using the tiny amount of power that the crystal had provided, he jump-started his hosts aura and watched as it slowly climbed, taking nearly a full half of an hour to even reach 10 percent.

It wasn't until his hosts aura had reached the half-way mark that he awoke from unconsciousness and Kalazar made himself scarce, it was better if he acted from the shadows now if Salem was still able to track him.

"Ahhhh… crap, not again!" Demon swore as his eyes fluttered open, wincing as the tiny surgical light shone into his face. He pushed it aside with his free arm and undid the straps that held him on the table, sitting up and taking in what had happened. He looked in the mirror and was only half surprised that a massive crystal was now embedded in his chest, being more surprised that it was now blood red rather than the onyx it was before, although he still couldn't see his heart through it. He knocked his knuckles against it and found that a tiny sensation tingled near the area, almost as if it was part of him.

The last thing he remembered was the searing pain and the demonic laughter of the woman in his mind, although he remembered a faint voice that had invaded his mind right before the black-out.

 _Kalazar? Was that you?_

He didn't receive a response and honestly wasn't surprised. With great effort, he plonked off the table and stood shakily on his feet, moving over and beginning to attach his armour. Demon once again praised the workmanship that Ivan had treated his armour with. The owner of Apparel and Armour had nearly had a heart attack when he saw the condition that Demon had left his armour in and wondered how the boy had managed to severely damage one of the strongest metals known on Remnant, even more so that he had exhausted all the nano-bots that were meant to repair the damage.

He had immediately taken it in and began the repair process, something which Demon chose to watch personally as he was interested, strangely instructing that both the grappling launcher and shuriken launcher be removed and to restore the Gauntlets to their original fashion. Ivan happily obliged and handed the armour back over a few days later, looking as though it was literally brand new, even going so far as to emblazon his family's crest on the Sode resting on his shoulder, as well as ensuring that the miniature reactor was restored to working order again.

Demon had already found a replacement for his mask, his mother apparently having already known about his plight and ordered another made, being the same as the previous one with almost no differences, Demon being glad that he could let his hair down after having it stuck in the Pilot's helmet for weeks.

Back to the present, after he had carefully armoured up, he made and collected his weapons, holstering a new Wingman that he had found on Jeeves and sheathing Wilt in a custom sheath he had made for it. His odachi/chaingun was under repair at an un-named weapon's smith, courtesy of his mother, yet he needed something other than _Jackhammer_ , the special bullets numbering in less than a clip and a half, so he decided he would dabble in a bit of weapon's forging himself, deciding that now would be a great time to collect the fruits of his labour.

After cleaning up from his strange ordeal, he opened the door to find it was nearing dusk if the rays of amber cresting the horizon were any indication. It was merely two days until he would begin to enact his plan and he wasn't exactly sure that everything was ready yet, even more so, he was worried for his half-sister as Qrow hadn't sent back a letter for some time now and he didn't know how their journey was going. Demon closed it behind him and walked over to the ward where his doctor was working with Amber, the boy cursing himself for not finding out her name even after this long.

Finding his way to the specified room, he found Amber sitting upright in her bed while seeming to look far into the distance at nothingness, the doctor casually writing something down on a clip-board while she stood off to the side of the bed. Once said doctor saw the new entrant, she beckoned him over and began speaking to Amber in what could only be described as a motherly tone.

"Miss Amber, I'd like you to meet the person that saved you!" she said cheerfully, the woman in the bed slowly turning her head to see him. A slight look of recognition passed over her features, although they quickly vanished as she began to speak, her voice strained and forced after a long time unconscious.

"Thank you, Mister… how can I repay you?" she immediately offered, Demon being taken back by her almost comical levels of complete disregard for her own well-being.

"There is really no need for that, I would have done the same to anyone and I really don't deserve anything"

"Please, I cannot let you leave without repayment!" she pleaded, almost sounding as though it was the last thing she would do.

"There is really nothing I would want right now and you should be getting rest…" he said, wording as much conviction as he could into it so that she understood he wasn't going to accept anything else.

She smiled at his humble nature and went back to staring at the wall, keeping a rueful smile on her features. The doctor explained to him how she had barely awoken two hours ago, refusing to go back to sleep, saying that she didn't feel right. She had stared blankly at the wall for the entire time, Demon briefly noting that it was in the direction of the room he was in before, never even moving until he had arrived.

He thought it over for a while, beginning to wonder more and more about this woman he had saved. Had she felt his struggle? Did she feel Salem, or even Kalazar? He committed the facts to memory and thanked to doctor, remembering to find her name and finding that it was appropriately fitting for her, being that it was Lupa. Leaving the hospital after giving Lupa a copious amount of forms he had to fill out, he jumped in the Bullhead that was waiting for him and told the pilot to head to Signal academy. It was a normal Bullhead, although the driver he had requested from the ranks of the White Fang, knowing that he couldn't really trust the normal drivers for letting slip that they had seen him.

He felt completely hypocritical when he thought about it because he was literally walking around in his distinctive armour and he was sure that heaps of people had at least caught a glimpse of him but he made sure to always travel at night so that they stayed as they should be… just rumours.

The driver was reluctant at first until the Lieutenant ordered that he chauffeur Demon until the end of the day, giving them an unmarked Bullhead they had spare. It took some time for them to get to Signal Academy and by then, the city was illuminated purely by the tiny pale light that the moon provided and the large amounts of street and building lights peppered around the city. They touched down and Demon got off, throwing a few lien back to the driver, the cash landing on the dashboard and the Faunus turning in shock.

"What is this for?" the Faunus asked, a male deer as indicated by two large horns on the top of his head.

"For your service, I can't just take advantage of you… that's the usual cost of all Bullhead drivers around Vale plus 10 percent…"

He ignored the completely unbelieving look of the Pilot and made his way to the administrative office, being greeted by a nice lady at the desk, looking as though it was literally her first day on the job.

"Hello!" she said cheerfully, clearly not expecting anyone at the college, especially not at this hour... and then she actually saw his armour, "OH MY GOD! You're him!" she stuttered, nearly falling out of her chair in disbelief.

"So I guess I don't need to introduce myself… I was wondering if I could grab the keys to the forges, I was given permission by one of the teachers to make my weapons…"

She seemed flustered but quickly began typing on her computer and clicked through a couple of files eventually finding the one she was looking for and giving him a warm smile as she spoke again.

"That checks out, you can head there right away but I should let you know that the other students are having an overnight stay at the school so you might have to get past them before getting your weapons…"

"They shouldn't be a problem" Demon answered, waving goodbye to the lady and beginning his journey to the forge, activating his cloak module so that he wouldn't be seen. He passed a couple of classrooms with lights on but other than that, he didn't see anyone else until he got to the forge. Demon de-activated his cloak as he came within view of the Smithy, a rather large fellow hefting a massive Blacksmith's hammer as he flattened the blade of a sword against an anvil.

"Lenigrast! How's the weapons looking!" Demon shouted over the loud thuds of the hammer hitting metal. The Blacksmith looked up from his work and wiped sweat off his brow, smiling as he saw his newest student.

"Hmph, I'd given you up for dead… almost had me worried there… almost…" he began, putting away the hammer and walking over to a large tool bench, shuffling a couple of things about before taking out a large wooden box and dropping it on the bench with a large 'thud'. Demon smiled and walked over beside him, opening the lid and smiling at the contents beneath.

"The steel took longer than expected to temper, but she'll be one of the best I've turned out in a while!" the Blacksmith admired, looking proudly at the two weapons that sat nestled it linen wrapping within the box. Demon took them both out and beamed proudly at his own handiwork. He had made the two weapons with minimal help from the Blacksmith, only getting help with the tempering and procuring of the materials, while the rest he could do himself thanks to his experience as an engineer.

With a massive grin, he took his gauntlets off and went through the lengthy process of bolting the weapons to the gauntlets, finding that his measurements were as perfect as they could be and it went off without a hitch. He tested the joins before putting the gauntlets back over his arms, shadowboxing for a bit to see if they would fall off, smiling when they didn't even move a millimetre.

"This is going to be badass!" Demon stated as he looked them over. The two weapons he had made were designed like Yang's Ember Celica, being that they were shotgun gauntlets that fired with impulses from his aura. They were painted the same red hue as his armour, obviously, chambering rounds that were only slightly bigger than the one's his sister used, although with the obvious drawback of having less ammo, being only able to hold 6 shots in each gauntlet. They were set on a belt-fed system so that they still needed to be cocked back after every shot, but he could charge his aura to allow for a full-auto mode where they fed all 6 shots through at blinding speed.

Lenigrast threw two of the bullet bandoliers to him and he tested the loading mechanism, putting the first shot in the feeder and watching as the rest were pulled through and put into place in the circular cylinder around his wrist. He pulled both his arms back and smiled as the sliders cocked a round into the firing chamber, although he did notice that it was sliding back and forth too much so he spent a minute tightening the sliders so that they would only move when he wanted them to.

When he was done, he grabbed a few more shell bandoliers and headed off to the firing range, waving a goodbye to Lenigrast as he went and receiving a 'I'll be around if you make it back!'.

He got to the training ground and silently was thankful that there was no-one else around, getting to work immediately. He tried it first on still targets, firing down-range and not noticing his smile slowly get larger and larger with each successive fire of the shotguns, producing the same satisfying sound as Ember Celica.

His accuracy left much to be desired, but he was happy to see that the explosion radius basically negated his terrible aim. Once he was sure he got the hang of it, he set it to the holographic battle-sim and went into the arena, watching as holographic Grimm appeared around him. He smiled as he knew that he could kill an Ursa with nothing but a knife… this was going to be a slaughter.

When they charged, he simply waited until they got close and punched them, firing the gauntlets at the same time and destroying them in a blast of fiery death, being surprised that the shells didn't do anything to his own aura, while also noticing that they were slowly gaining a black hue around the edges. Before he had the chance to press any further, the first wave ended and he ejected the expended shells, cocking back the sliders and watching as the massive shells clattered to the floor. Grabbing two new bandoliers and loading them the same way she had seen Yang do it, throwing them into the air and swinging his arms and catching them in the loading mechanism.

He looked at the next wave and saw that it didn't really increase in difficulty, only adding a few more Beowolves, so he switched it to something more… interesting. As he watched the next target materialise, he smiled when the colossal form of a Goliath took up the majority of the arena in front of him. He severely questioned why the lower-grade training school would even have this as an option when a trained Huntsman would strain to beat one… but he wasn't going to start complaining.

When it had finished assembling, he waiting until it began to charge him… then he made his move. He took a deep breath and tried to do something that he hadn't done in a while, watching as the world around him slowed to a crawl and everything stopped. He focused on the head of the Goliath, seeing a large splotch appear where he was aiming, releasing his breath and going along with it. He teleported right in front of the Goliath, the program being completely confused with losing its target and letting him perform his attack. He pumped his aura into both gauntlets and aimed them right at the head of the Goliath, firing full-auto at its skull, unleashing 12 high-explosive shotgun slugs point-blank into its face… needless to say, it didn't take it very well.

A massive crack appeared in the armour and Demon quickly pulled out Wilt, plunging it into the crack, twisting it and ending the Grimm. He smiled as he watched the massive elephant crash to the ground with a roar, dropping the shells on the floor and smiling at his handiwork… until he heard a loud cacophony of claps and turned to see about four middle-school classes clapping at his work

 _Oh Dammit! How am I going to get out of this now!_


	3. School troubles again

**Well, it turns out that one can find a lot of time to write Fanfiction when they're especially sick of studying for their upcoming tests... especially if it's Maths and Chemistry...**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 3:

It turns out, when just about every teacher at Signal Academy remembers a certain blonde with duel shotgun gauntlets, they tend to be a tad lenient on the kid who already had a massive reputation for being a badass, even more so when they found out he was related to probably one of their least-favorite students…

"I'm just saying… I was stuck for weapons ideas and decided by sister could use some back-up in her department!" Demon said in an almost annoyed tone, mainly because he was being scolded by just about every teacher at the school for waking the kids and making it a much more eventful night than it should have been "Plus, the Blacksmith Lenigrast said I could use it!"

The teachers around him all adopted a look of 'you must be bullshitting us' for some reason, although he honestly didn't notice thanks to the near hundred kids that were behind them. There were four teachers, three of them being normal teachers that he honestly couldn't care less about while the last was the gym teacher, who reminded him of Neo… because he could imagine them laughing maniacally while brutally murdering someone for the fun of it… or that's the vibe she gave off anyway.

"The Blacksmith is a mute and he's deaf… I highly doubt that!" one of the teachers put in, slightly explaining the reason for their looks. It was Demon's turn to give the 'you're shitting me' look as he distinctly remembers having a nice chat while he forged the parts for his gauntlets.

"Ummm… really?" he asked, guessing that it wouldn't have been the first time that he'd seen an illusionary semblance and it could all be just a trick. They nodded their heads, then the gym teacher turned back to the kids and decided they'd have enough fun.

"ALRIGHT! GET BACK TO YOUR CLASSROOMS OR YOU'LL ALL BE RUNNING LAPS!" she shouted, producing a collective groan which was silenced when they all met her death-stare. Demon shuffled over to one of the teachers, the one that seemed to be the liveliest of the group given that he was wearing ridiculously colorful clothing (which wasn't all that new on Remnant) although he was the only one who acted like they weren't condemning him to the depths of hell.

"What's her problem?" he whispered, startling the teacher a bit but still getting a response.

"She's annoyed because you made her lose a massive bet she placed on you fight against Yuuki" he explained, patting him on the back as he did, "Don't take it personally but she also absolutely hated having Yang as a student as well"

"Why does everyone here seem to hate Yang as a student!"

"You seriously don't know!" he exclaimed, grabbing him and ushering him over to a rather large trophy cabinet. Without saying anything, he pointed to one of the trophy's and Demon stopped to read it.

 _Yang Xiao Long – presented on her day of graduation_

 _Award presented for single-handedly collecting the largest amount of Detentions ever recorded at this school… compliments of Miss Palakinstav_

"So I take it that at least 90% of her detentions were during gym?" Demon asked, getting a nod from the teacher.

"She was fine in all the other classes, other than almost never doing her homework and arriving late half the time, she was fine… although it was the gym class where she seemingly did most of her handiwork. On her first day here, she had already racked up three for disrupting the class and it just kept piling on after that… although it's always funny to see her get riled up when we talk about Yang"

"So… what was the worst thing she ever did during school?" Demon questioned, getting a bit curious as to how a few disruption notices would get a teacher that pissed.

"She set fire to the entire school oval… five times" the teacher nonchalantly replied, still looking at the massive trophy case. Demon looked behind him and saw said oval, whistling as he tried to imagine Yang setting it on fire… it wasn't very hard.

"Well, I better get back home before Miss Douche comes back and decides to kick my ass!"

"Miss Douche aye?" came a very annoyed voice from behind them, both boys turning to see said gym teacher standing there not looking at all happy.

"Well, it was nice knowing you…" the male teacher said, preparing for the worst… only, Demon already had an escape plan. He just saluted the teachers and fired a shot from his Gauntlets up into the air, not waiting until he received a tongue lashing from the teacher before he activated his Semblance and teleported up to the shot, then gave Yang's preferred method of transport a go. He switched the shots to close-combat mode and fire the shotguns behind him, being shot through the air all the way across campus and landing with a thud in front of the Blacksmith's shop. Seeing the teacher running across the campus at lightning speed, he ran inside to say thanks to Lenigrast before leaving.

"HEY OLD FELLOW! I GOTTA GO BEFORE I GET TURNED TO PASTE, SO THANKS FOR THE HELP!" he shouted as he ran through, briefly seeing the Blacksmith putting a large chunk of metal into a forge.

"I knew you'd be around soon. Hmph, don't waste my time if you're just going to leave" he replied, working the bellows of the forge as the metal began to glow a burning amber. Demon paused in his run and turned back to the Blacksmith with a newly bemused look.

"Why the hell is literally everyone saying that you're mute and deaf, yet you're clearly talking to me!"

The blacksmith turned around and smiled, taking the massive block of molten steel from the forge… with his bare hands.

"Do not believe everything you see and hear Hawk, for not is all as it seems in life, the sooner you realize that the better…" Demon stood there for a few seconds before having to snap out of it to grab a massive ammo box that was thrown his way by the Blacksmith, "Your mother pays well so I figured I would be nice to her kid, so don't go breaking those things anytime soon"

Demon took a moment to process it before giving a thumb up to the Blacksmith, busting through the side-door and running to the front of the school again, passing the very flustered secretary and quickly going through the automatic doors to the street outside. He quickly jumped over to Cerberus as it was parked right outside, wrapping a rope around the ammo box to tie it down before turning the keys and gunning the engine, speeding off in a wheelie while the gym teacher yelled at him furiously from behind, Demon smiling and laughing as he turned the corner and turned onto the highway back to his HQ.

It was a while before he made it back to the warehouse, ensuring that he kept below the speed limit so he didn't have to hack the police again, rolling up to the White Fang guards he had set up to stop anyone getting in. They looked like they were going to stop him… before they saw who he was of course, then they moved casually aside and opened the door. What greeted him from inside the warehouse he could only describe as ordered Chaos.

In front of him were both White Fang grunts and some of Juniors men, all moving various supplies and weapons to and fro across the warehouse, boxes of all shapes and sizes being moved. It was mainly supplies that he'd need for his… business venture, although he noted that most of it comprised of the new weapons shipments he was getting in from his newest partner. The Lieutenant and Vanessa were both overseeing the movement of the supplies, the two working surprisingly well together considering that the Lieutenant hated humans… Demon guessed he didn't have anything against robots.

His two Titans that were still in Vale, Vanessa and Nicolai, were both recalled from the front-lines and were now helping around in the warehouse during the final rush, two days before his plan could go into action. He got a wave from the massive Titan as she saw him and he returned it as he walked over to the nearest box, opening it and inspecting the contents. Inside were 30 brand-new R-101C Carbines, all fitted for Dust-round firing capabilities as well as around 100 clips sitting nestled neatly next to them. He had given the schematics to the largest weapons producer in Vale, albeit a small company compared to those in Atlas, placing an order for enough of the weapons to supply the entire White Fang in Vale.

The rifles, in his opinion, were far superior to the looted rifles that found their way into the White Fang's hands and with his plan, he'd need as much fire-power as he could get. He put the cover back on the box and went over to where the rest of his friends were and was greeted to the sight of a massive game of poker.

"ROYAL FLUSH ASSHOLES!" shouted Josh over the din of everything, a massive groan following from the rest of the group and a large pile of winnings being horded by said Pilot. Yang was giving Josh a massive death-stare that could rival Weiss', Kira and Markus weren't exactly phased by it but still looked annoyed, while Tempest was sharpening the blades on Hellraisers with a sadistic glint in his eyes aimed at Josh. Demon wasn't noticed by any of the players but felt a small weight on his right shoulder, looking up to see Neo playfully sitting there with a smirk.

He had honestly been surprised when she'd elected to sit on his shoulders whenever he was at the base but he honestly couldn't care less. She weighed less than rock in his opinion and he would sometimes even miss her when she teleported off as he didn't notice a change in his step.

"Heyo, anything new on Blake?" he asked as he walked over to his personal pod, putting his weapons onto their respective stands and taking off his gauntlets and putting them on his weapons bench, beginning to work on inner mechanisms to make the loading smoother. He had gotten Neo to do some undercover work into the travel between kingdoms to try and figure out where Blake had headed off to, knowing that it was less than likely that she had stayed in Vale.

Neo took out her scroll and spent a few seconds tapping a response, reaching down with the device so that Demon could see it.

 _'Captain of a ship said he'd seen a cat faunus that looked like her heading to Menagerie, said she'd taken down a Sea Dragon along the way'_

"Ok then, looks like after we hit Atlas we're off to Menagerie… well, tomorrow's the big day so can you go check up on all the files and make sure we've got everything?"

She nodded and disappeared off his shoulder, Demon hearing the alarmed shouts of White Fang grunts as she teleported in front of them and no doubt caused them to crap their pants. He set aside his gauntlets and locked the door leading to his pod, activating the barrier that would prevent Neo from using her Semblance. It was a rather nifty device that Markus had developed himself, although he had to link it up to Nicolai's nuclear core so that he didn't run out of power thanks to the ridiculous power usage. He had no idea how it works (typical excuse) although he did know it mostly ran off the principle that the ice dust crystals inside it were dispersed in a way similar to the Titan drop-shield works, although it creates a barrier to Semblances only, stopping them from working.

The only reason they hadn't tried to figure out a way to carry it for personal use is a) because of the massive power usage and b) because it weighed a crap tonne (literally a tonne) just to produce a 3 by 3 metre shield. He put his helmet and the rest of his armour on the stand and laid in his small bed, running a hand through his hair to try and work out the tangling and blood that were stuck clumping together and messing it up.

He laid there for some time, just thinking about the last couple of months and the crazy shit that had happened to both his companions and himself, closing his eyes and trying to get some much-needed rest… until he felt a pair of eyes watching him. He faked a yawn, moving his arms up to his head, then reached under his pillow and whipped out a combat knife, aiming it at where he felt the intruder was… to see his Mother again with her mask at her hip.

"Is it really too much to ask for you to not aim a weapon at me every time I see you?"

"WELL IF YOU ACTUALLY KNOCKED IT WOULD HELP!" he playfully shouted back, placing the knife back underneath his bunk and sitting up, his mother sitting beside him and giving him a quick hug. She looked over to the weapons bench and smiled briefly.

"My daughter is definitely going to be annoyed when she sees those… congratulations on making it out of Beacon alive"

"Yeah… you do know Yang's playing poker next door, I could grab her and talk it out, that machine over there stops her Semblance from activating and I'm sure I could get her to calm down… come to think of it, how did you even get in here?"

"The ceiling…" she replied nonchalantly, pointing to the air-duct in the ceiling, "plus, I don't exactly WANT to see her… she doesn't deserve it until her Father explains what happened"

"What do you mean explain what happened?" Demon asked, not exactly figuring out what the tone she had as she stared into the distance as if reminiscing something.

"In due time, I shall talk to my daughter and tell you what I mean, but for now I must ask you, what exactly are you planning… not even MY sources can find out what you even have in those boxes out there"

This time, it was Demon's turn to smile evilly, laying back and taking out his knife again.

"Nothing much… only enough R101-C's to stock an army and enough supplies to keep said army on the field for three months"

Raven seemed to cringe inwardly at his words, something that wasn't missed by Demon, although he had to admit she did hide it well.

"And where would you be getting an army from?"

"My little secret… not to be pushy or anything but why exactly did you come here? I don't think it would exactly be for a nice motherly chat"

"My idiot of a brother has gotten himself into trouble and I wanted to keep tags on you in case she sent one after you as well…"

"Wait? Sent one after me? What happened to Qrow?"

"One of my enemies sent an assassin to take the red reaper and he took it upon himself to protect her, I came here to see if they had sent an assassin after you…"

"I haven't seen anyone so far… what would they look like?"

"It depends…" she replied, scratching her chin for a couple of moment before continuing "look for a large brute with short, brown hair and a beard. He'll be wearing an olive-green coat with black gear underneath and he won't appear to have a weapon on him… just know that he doesn't need one to kill you"

"Got it, look for the 8-foot-tall dude who looks like an olive and shoot the crap out of him before he man-handles my ass and sends me to hell… seems simple enough"

Raven sighed at his explanation but nodded anyways, looking as though she was about to say something… only for the door to begin opening. She didn't have to ask as a knife flew out of Demon's hand and hit the switch on the Semblance-blocker, disabling it and allowing her to jump through one of her portals a moment later. Demon used his own Semblance to teleport over to his helmet, practically slamming it on his face as Yang walked in.

"I knew you were back! Why didn't you say anything!" she scolded, walking over and punching him in the arm… before her eyes settled on the two new additions to his arsenal, "My, my… what do we have here!"

Demon carefully began shuffling towards the door as Yang's eyes began fluttering between Lilac and Red, slowly turning to him and giving a dark smirk. He feebly tried to give a smile back… until he realized he had a helmet on… then made a mad dash for the door.

Back in the poker game, the others all heard a massive commotion and looked over to the officers' quarters, seeing Demon practically dive out, barely making it a metre before he was tripped and slowly dragged back in, trying and failing to grab onto something that would save him, then the door slammed behind him and they began hearing something that resembled a Beowolf being kicked around like a hacky-sack… which wouldn't be too far from the truth.

Tempest groaned as he knew he couldn't really let Yang break Demon so he reluctantly stood up and went over to the door, opening it… and then being thrown back after Demon was thrown into him like a rag doll, both of them hitting the opposite wall with a massive 'thunk'. Yang came out of the room, her eyes now a blazing red while her hair glowed gold, Demon's new gauntlets in hand.

"Law and Order you asshole, don't do this without asking me!" she warned with a surprisingly calm voice, throwing the weapons at him and hitting his groin, making Tempest cringe as he felt the impact. Demon just gave up and used the last of his effort to roll off Tempest, face-planting on the floor and muttering a couple of words to himself.

"Hmmm… Law and Order… nice names"

Tempest looked up to Yang and gave a thumbs-up, mostly because he wasn't dead, but then again, she didn't look like she was going to kill him so it was a double positive. She calmed down a bit and went over, helping him up before both went over to the poker game and re-joined like nothing happened. Just as they were about to start, Tempest gave practically the best idea he'd had in a while.

"Hey… why don't we bet for who gets to pour the ice-cold water on him in the morning!"

A resounding chuckle of approval came from everyone, but not before Demon threw a knife and hit Tempest in the back of the head with the hilt.

"Asshole…" muttered the nearly-unconscious Pilot before he let himself fall asleep… he'd deal with the problems tomorrow.


	4. Rematch?

**Sorry for the massive update time loyal fans but I've been a bit busy lately with a lot of flooding happening with me and I needed to valiantly defend my house by digging trenches to divert it! Only my friends in Australia will know what I'm talking about but just know that I didn't have power for about three days so I didn't want to waste the only bit of battery I had left to write the story...**

 **As a response to some of the reviews, I'll clear up some things that might provide some foreshadowing for later chapters.**

 **1\. Demon was teleported to Remnant roughly a week before the attack on Demeter in Titanfall and the events in Titanfall 2 don't really have a time-frame relating to the first game other than it is "In the wake of the fall of Demeter" which I guessed put it at most a year later. Which means that Jack Cooper already destroyed the Arc and Typhon so Demon won't have anything to do with that if you're wondering... which also means that IF the Militia or the IMC make their way to Remnant they will have the newer gear and Titans!**

 **2\. As a continuation to the last comment, I will be going semi-canon for any appearances by any faction, so that unfortunately means that I won't be able to add in Viper or any of the other Apex Predators who died, although they will have replacements if they ever do appear... and there's always Blisk?**

 **Sorry for the confusion if you viewed this chapter early, I accidentally posted a chapter for another one of my stories... I'm an idiot**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 4:

As it always seems to happen, Demon putting things off again came back and bite him in the ass. He had woken up ten minutes before he was set to leave for Atlas, nobody keeping their promise to wake him up with cold water. The Airship had been lent to them by the Atlesian Military as repayment for saving P.E.N.N.Y, although he had made it there thirty minutes after the scheduled leave time and was surprised to see a VERY angry Winter tapping her heels on the loading bay door while she no doubt waited for him. He didn't have any time to back-track before she saw him and jabbed a finger towards the inside of the craft, giving Demon a look that gave him the idea that she'd rather be jabbing her Rapier into his gut.

The main reason why he was late was because he had to wish The Angels and Yang off on their journey to Mistral, mainly involving getting punched by Yang again for copying Ember Celica, although there was a tiny bit of sentiment when they left. Yang had opted for a newer outfit than her old Huntress uniform, having a less… revealing outfit, being a large brown trench-coat that was open at the back and having black leggings covering her thighs, a scarf wrapped around her neck to complete the look **(Vol 4, ep 12 outfit)**. As well as having Ember Celica strapped to her arm, two new additions were on display, mainly matt-yellow painted exoskeleton arms that ran to a power-pack on her back that also sported a parkour-kit that was at her shoulder-blades.

He had wished the others farewell as they boarded the ferry to Mistral and made haste towards the Airship which was in the middle of the last Atlesian military complex in Vale. Even though he had made it there in five minutes, the guards spent another ten minutes searching him for hidden weapons and other stuff and another ten trying to get him to take his helmet off, which failed miserably, until they finally let him through and to the awaiting Airship where he was now.

Demon guiltily walked up the ramp and passed Winter, offering a tiny 'sorry' that was silenced with another death-glare, the loading ramp closing behind them as they got on board. The Airship almost immediately set off and Demon felt the familiar feeling of altitude gain as they jetted off to Atlas.

"Why were you late!" ordered Winter, marching in step behind him, her heels clicking off the metal flooring of the Airship.

"I forgot to set an alarm…" Demon off-handedly answered, walking up a set of stairs to get to the upper level where the other crew were. There were a couple of Atlesian soldiers milling around near the on-board bar, which Demon definitely enjoyed to see, as well as several Atlesian Knights de-activated along the walls. Neo was sitting cross-legged on one of the boxes, being in the disguise she used when he first met her, although she was too busy eating a tub of ice-cream to notice his entrance… until Winter continued talking.

"Do you have any idea what you have done to our schedule!" she scolded, her hands glancing over her Sabre as her rage built.

"I have no idea, nor do I care… could we just get going, I need to break your sister out of jail and get back to Mistral" Demon answered, Neo already teleporting onto his shoulder and continuing to eat her ice-cream. He walked over to the bar and got a small shot, chugging it down before talking to Winter again. "If you have any problems, take it up with our complaints department"

"You know, you are beginning to become a lot more like your Uncle and it is very annoying… I thought you could turn out decent but apparently not" she mocked, not really producing the reaction she wanted.

"Winter… what would you do if General Ironwood suddenly shot you the next time he saw you… there would be no for-warning, only that the next time he saw you he would try his damned hardest to kill you" Demon asked, sounding as serious as he could possibly be, the conversation between the other soldiers dulling down to a whisper as they listened in.

She was a bit taken back by the question but after milling it over for a few seconds before replying with a very serious tone.

"If there was no other option, I would kill him…" she answered sullenly, staring him dead in the eyes to show she really meant it.

"And how would that make you feel?"

"I would not feel justified in any way if I didn't know why he did it… I wouldn't be able to continue knowing I killed my superior"

"Would you continue the way you've always been… a perfect example of Military prowess and a shining star for all new recruits"

She didn't quite pick up on the small praise but answered quickly.

"I assume I would be lax for a few of my duties, although I'd try to keep a straight expression for the other soldiers"

"Good… now what would you do if you were forced to kill every person who ranked above you in the entire Atlesian Military"

She now actually paused in her response, the other soldiers seeing her expression and moving off awkwardly to another section of the ship.

"I wouldn't be able to…" she admitted, gritting her teeth as she mulled over the thought.

"I would assume that the General told you of my circumstances of coming to this world and probably a bit about who I was before I was here"

"He told me that you were a soldier of a freedom fighter group on your world, fighting to take back worlds that fell to an Inter-planed mining company"

"Half true… a better word would be Terrorist if I was perfectly honest. You could think of me as being part of the White Fang if you would and the IMC would be the SDC here… well not exactly the same. The IMC would file for rights over a planet and then immediately begin a hostile take-over, claiming that they had rights… the only problem was that with the massive transmittal time between the Frontier and Earth, it would be years before they would get a response, all of which contained re-settlement rights for the citizens that were either dead or working in their damned mines… if it denied them rights to the planet, they would simply pack up and leave because they'd drained it dry of most of the resources… they held a complete monopoly over resources on the Frontier and were responsible for the complete destruction of twelve colony worlds, all of which they had drilled to the core and released the energy to destroy it, while being responsible for tuning over two billion people into refugees…"

"Then how are you in the wrong?"

"Because their soldiers didn't know that… they thought they were in the right the whole time, having already received the permits to mine the planets, and the IMC made them believe that the settlers were refusing to up-and-go so they had to be killed… only the soldiers that were in the higher echelons ever had any idea of what was truly going on, although the Militia didn't know that and if I ever tried to vouch for it at the strategy meetings, I'd be branded as working for them and killed… back to the story, the IMC weren't exactly versed in the ways of honourable warfare so more often than not, they would simply bombard the planet from orbit if they could and kill anyone that was still left, although once the Militia was founded, we stopped them from doing so by building defences that made it near impossible to stay in orbit for longer than a minute in a Capital ship, which forced them into CQC battles on the ground and dogfights in the air with smaller craft… as you could guess, they quickly got tired of it and resorted to even more cowardly means to take out the Militia"

"Such as?"

"There is a drug in our universe, that, when it is inside the system, makes the target extremely susceptible to orders when another is introduced, the only downside is that it takes at least a month for the drugs to properly take effect, which is exactly how long it took the IMC to drug the entire upper echelon of the command of Militia Frontier Fleet Echo… twenty commanding officers were taken under IMC control when they launched an attack on the fleet, the officers detonating bombs on the ship's engines and making us sitting ducks. The only ship that wasn't effected was the flagship of the fleet, the _Judging Strike._ The crew of the ship had been at post for so long with their commander that they almost instantly recognised his behaviour, although they couldn't do much considering the Armoury had been locked and there was only one person on-board other than the commanders with a weapon… a single grunt who was too stupid to stow his weapon after the last battle"

"I take it this is a personal story?" questioned Winter, finally understanding the gravity of the talk.

"I was forced to take the lives of my commanders one-by-one in the space of two minutes… I didn't have time to hesitate or the entire ship was doomed. By the end of it, four bodies laid dead on the floor of the command deck and we were gunning the engines to get out of the system… the other ships were already screwed… the point of the story is that I did what I had to so that people lived, I never put gravity on situations where it is not needed, such as this one… when your life is filled with the cries of the dead, you find solace in the small things that give you pause"

Winter stood there impassively as she took in everything he had said, a dead silence filling the hold, except for the quiet slurping of Neo eating her ice-cream.

"Please forgive me…" she uttered silently, bowing to him and walking off to follow her troops while Demon just sat there in remembrance. Neo tapped him on the helmet, making him look up slowly while sighing, only to see her holding a massive scoop of ice-cream for him, a slight look of concern written over her face. She held up her scroll with 'Ice-cream helps' written, Demon giving a thumbs-up and taking the scroop, pulling his helmet up a little and gulping it down, regretting it when he almost immediately was engulphed in a brain-freeze.

Neo giggled as Demon writhed in pain while holding his head in a useless attempt to holt it. She took the spoon back and wiped it off, teleporting off to sit on a nearby crate while looking on amusedly at his antics.

Once Demon was done having a small conniption, he went over and washed down the ice-cream with stein of beer, finishing it off quickly and burping once he was done. He went over and sat down next to Neo, beginning to fiddle with _Law and Order,_ bringing up the schematics and tightening some of the attachment screws that had come loose when Yang threw them. When Neo saw them, an idea formed in her mind and a sadistic grin begin to work its way onto her lips.

Demon almost felt the sheer excitement emanating from her and turned to see her already standing in a make-shift ring made of boxes around five metres wide, her parasol over her shoulder and Torchwick's Bowler hat sitting lop-sided on the brown side of her hair while she had given up the disguise she had for the Atlesian guards, going back to her normal outfit. She threw over her scroll and began slowly sheathing and unsheathing her misericorde that was in the handle of her parasol.

'I wanna see if you're any better than the blonde!' read the Scroll, Demon smiling at the challenge and strapping on _Law and Order_ , placing two belts of shells into the loaders and watching them get pulled through and chambered.

He booted up the combat systems, seeing the familiar aura gauge and shield bar fill the top half of his screen, while the other passive systems showed green lights across the board. He began spinning up the reactor, his parkour-kit jets flaring as they cleared out the residual dust, while his shield flickered into existence around him. Demon stepped into the ring and got into a generic boxer's stance, giving the illusion that he would fight the same way as Yang would… although that wouldn't be the case. With the amount of CQC training that Pilot's received during training and the countless hours he spent putting it to use on the field… he knew how to fight.

While they stared at each other, waiting for some signal for them to start, they both analysed their opponents fighting stance. Both had seen each other fight before, although they both knew the other was holding back. Neo had been briefed extensively on the raven-haired boy's fighting style, seeing him use his odachi and chaingun during the festival, as well as his brief exchange of fighting in the forest against the siblings. From what she knew, he was a relatively fast fighter for his size and armament, although he held little skill while wielding his sword and his Semblance only worked if he could focus, something she found out after they began working together. His stance that he used was the same she had seen the blonde use, although he knew better. During her fight with Yuuki, he displayed some of his close-combat skills in being able to dodge her lightning-fast attacks and even land a few blows of his own, giving her a brief glimpse into his usual fighting style.

Demon, on the other hand, didn't know quite so much about the multi-coloured assassin that was in front of him, going off the brief reports he had heard from Yang about her fighting style. She would keep a calm, if not near-insane, look through the fight to put off her opponent and her umbrella was excessively resilient against even Ember Celica. Shots that she couldn't block, she merely dodged nimbly and her semblance allowed for split-second escapes from combat… he wasn't even sure if she had ever been hit in a fight. Demon was pretty sure that the form of hand-to-hand he was trained in wasn't used in this world, although it wouldn't be effective if he couldn't land a hit. He would just have to makes sure that he switched it up whenever she was falling into a rhythm of blocks. Her form now didn't reveal much, only a nonchalant gait where her weapon wasn't even ready, her hands preparing energy for the fight ahead.

As they continued to stare, Demon glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly on the hour, so with a quick gesture to the ice-cream girl, she got the general idea and they both waited until it ticked over… then all hell broke loose.

As soon as it hit the hour, Demon jumped forward using his parkour-kit to aid the dash, then lashed out with a right-hook, his fist aiming right for her face. She saw this coming and donned a smirk as she batted away the attack with her parasol, straining not to laugh as it took less than a flick to re-direct the strike… then she realised her mistake. Before she could to anything, he spun around and swept out his legs, causing her to trip, then brought around his fist again and punched her with the flat of his hand on her stomach, driving her into the ground, while not firing his gauntlets so that she couldn't use her semblance.

She hit the ground with a thud, although she quickly dissipated with the shattering of glass, disappearing from his sight, teleporting behind Demon so that she could take a hit at him. He anticipated the hit and dived forward, spinning back around to face his opponent before having to block another stab from her parasol. Her normal demeaner was already broken, Demon narrowing it down to him being able to hit her or the fact that she was scolding herself for getting hit, although he knew she wouldn't go easy this fight.

He readied himself in his natural stance, his right foot back and left foot slightly off-centre to allow him better balance, his left arm poised to block the incoming strikes while his right was coiled back to take advantage of any opportunities he saw. Neo switched her strategy by opening her parasol to give her a wider range of deflection, while sitting back on the side to try and lure him over… although it didn't work.

Demon waited patiently for his opponent, knowing she was far better on the defensive and used her opponent's attacks against them. Neo didn't drop her smug façade but eventually stood up and started her offensive. She went for a stab with the end of her parasol, being batted away easily, although she struck out with her leg to his side, Demon ducking under it and punched out at her chest, Neo nimbly twisting so that he missed, grabbing his arm as he swung to try and put him off balance. He realised his mistake and pulled his arm back, wrenching it from her grip and kicking out with his left leg, Neo seeing another opportunity and caught it, pulling it up immediately and catching him off-guard.

His balance was shifted enough so that when she struck out with her parasol, he could only bat it away so that it hit his shoulder rather than his chest. It was MUCH stronger than he thought it would be and it caused him to be knocked back and spin to the floor, face-planting and having to roll to the side to avoid a follow-up attack, surprisingly breaking his shields on impact. He swung back to try and catch her while he recovered but his fist met something that resembled a brick wall, given that she had caught his blow on her parasol on the full.

He tried to recover only to get a kick to the gut and was sent rolling into the side of the arena. By now, his aura was at around 80% and he switched up his strategy. Firing _Law and Order_ to distract her, he spun up back onto his feet and took a moment to re-orientate himself, seeing Neo already sitting back with her legs crossed and parasol on her shoulder, taunting him with a smug grin. He couldn't really do anything to return the look but he instead unsheathed his combat knife from its sheath, taking out his data-knife as well, putting both in a reverse grip and getting into different stance to throw her off.

He used his parkour kit to jump forward, feinting a duel-side attack with both knives and making her open her parasol to block them, although he stopped it mid-attack and kicked out with his legs. Neo was no-doubt ready for this and when she brought down her parasol to block it, he went in for a head-but, her face contorting in shock before she could do anything as he knocked her back with the force of the attack.

She twisted over with the attack and returned with her own, aiming a kick for his thigh while simultaneously closing her parasol and swinging it for his head. He blocked the kick easily and dived under the parasol, although he was caught off-guard when her other leg slammed into his chest and knocked him back a few feet. She continued with the attack, lashing out with everything she had as Demon struggled to keep up with her blows, his knifes proving useful as he hooked it around her parasol to bring it off-course.

Neo was getting more and more frustrated with each passing moment as she failed to land a blow on her opponent. His fighting style was something she had never seen before in her life, coupled with the fact that she could tell he had MUCH more experience in life-or-death combat, if his reaction speed was anything to go off. She now realised why he wore a mask all the time, much like she did her best to seem like she was enjoying it, the enemy didn't know what he was thinking and the only thing they can read is his stance… which didn't help much.

Demon jumped forward and began punching left, right and centre, flurrying blows while not using his knives, his parkour kit giving him dashes of speed every time he went for a hit. Neo thought it was strange, not really knowing why he would even consider using something that was less effective, although as she blocked and dodged his strikes regardless, failing to notice that the data-knife was missing from his left hand. As he continued to distract her with his attacks, he went for a particularly large top-right attack, which she had to lift her parasol to block, only to feel something smash into her aura at her knee, a second one following before she realised that he had brought his Wingman out to play. Neo retaliating with her own attack and slammed the side of his head with her parasol, kicking the pistol out of the arena.

Sick of being so wrong about him, Neo teleported behind him before he could recover, put her legs on the small of his back, arms around his neck, then twisted backwards and flipped him over, slamming him onto the floor and knocking him out… or would have if he wasn't wearing his shock-resistance mask. His aura tanked the blow and he felt his mask slam against his nose, a warm trickle of liquid beginning to drip down on the floor. He pretended to go along with the act as Neo got off him and leant down, poking the side of his head to check, giving him the perfect opportunity.

As she was just about to walk away, his arm darted out and caught her ankle, pulling back and bringing her to the floor with him. Her face contorted in shock and she would have shouted something if she could speak, although her face slamming onto the floor would have stopped that anyway. Demon rolled over on top of the small assassin and brought his dagger to her throat, stopping it an inch away so that she knew he had won… although Neo never got the message.

She kicked him in the back of the head with a massive high-kick, then wrenched her hands free from underneath his knees, grabbing onto his knife arm as well as rolling over on top of him, Demon now in the exact same position as he had put her in a second ago. Her knees were pinning his arms down like he had to her, although this time her legs were wrapped around his to stop any retaliatory attacks. In one swift movement, she drew her misericorde and pressed the sharp tip underneath his mask in between his jawbone and chin, right where she could stab it through without any resistance to the brain.

As soon as Demon felt the cold metal, he went stock still and decided it was best if he let the little ice-cream girl have this one.

"Ok, ok… you win!" he reluctantly mumbled, giving Neo a smug grin as she sheathed her blade and put his knife back in his sheath, teleporting off him and going back to eating her ice-cream. She tapped a few things on her scroll before throwing it back on his prone body, Demon never even bothering to move as he recovered from the fight.

" _Definitely better than the blonde"_

Demon smiled and slowly got up, disarming _Law and Order_ as well as powering down his reactors, pulling his mask up a bit to wipe off the blood that was flowing from his nose. It wasn't broken and it was only a tiny trickle so he didn't bother doing anything, feeling it was better to just leave it. When he went over to the bar to drink away his problems… again… he saw Winter leaning against the far wall, scrutinizing him with a piercing gaze.

"Something wrong?" he asked as he poured a small drink, lifting his mask slightly to chug it down and offering the bottle to the Schnee. She snapped out of her staring to slowly shake her head, walking over and making Neo's breath catch in her throat as she just realised that she had forgotten to change back to her disguise. Just as she was about to change, Winter spoke up, breaking the tension.

"There is no need to hide your identity girl, I saw the whole fight…"

Neo grimaced and her hand moved to the handle of her parasol, her mind already thinking of where to teleport to, although Winter's next words broke her ideas.

"There is also no need to run, your companion Markus informed me of your… situation, in which you have taken in this orphaned girl. Although I don't agree on your methods, I can see that she is on the path to a better life given that she could have easily ended your life during that duel but stayed her blade"

Demon nodded nonchalantly, having already realised the fact but decided against bringing it up. Winter came over to the bar and reached underneath a special compartment, taking out a rather expensive looking wine glass and some crystal cups, pouring two glasses and offering a cup to Demon. He looked down at the beer bottle he held and felt very one-upped, putting it aside and taking a small sip of the wine, finding it EXTREMELY bitter for his tastes… although he did quite well to hide it beside the fact that he let out a tiny squeak as his lips cracked painfully from the taste.

Winter didn't seem to mind at all and took a much larger sip that didn't appear to have any negative effects on her, setting to down so she could continue the conversation.

"One thing I did notice is your lack of Semblance use… you failed to utilise it once during that fight and it could have given you the advantage many times"

"To be honest, I have little-to-no idea how it works… I just know how to activate it and half the time I forget it's there. It slows down time so I can focus and I just designate where I hit and then it does the rest for me"

"You forget you have a Semblance?"

"Remember? I relied on my reflexes and a gun for the past four years of my life… It's really just a new thing that takes too much effort to use effectively"

"Do you have much knowledge on its limitations?"

"Well, if I use it to strike more than once it leaves me breathless, anything after that and I get a massive energy drain, although I haven't really tested anything in the realm of limits yet… I don't really want to see anything worse than when I used it on the team in the first round of the tournament and that meant having no breath left and feeling like I was punched in the gut around fifty times by Yang"

"As you have probably seen, we Schnee's rely upon our Semblances to turn the battle in our favour… and I believe I may offer some assistance in training yours"

Demon mulled over it for a second then actually realised what it meant, groaning loudly and chugging down the last of the wine he was offered in one large gulp, almost choking after it went down.

"So… let's get training!" he cheered, slightly sarcastically, Winter not noticing it as a small smile crept onto her features.

 _This is going to be the closest thing to hell yet… having to listen to a Schnee for more than five minutes!_


	5. Hypocrisy at its finest

**And once again, I'll begin the chapter with an apology... SORRY for the massive update date but it took me hours on end to get this chapter as good as I could but you have to know I SUCK at writing sappy stuff**

 **To explain that, this is entirely a intermission chapter with character development and a few backstory pieces and a 'bit' of shipping...**

 **Which is also the reason why it took me so long... I knew it was going to be complete crap, but BY GOD, I AM GOING TO MAKE IT THE BEST PIECE OF SHIT I CAN!**

 **As a response to a couple of reviews that I haven't answered yet, I WILL NEVER FORGET YOUR OC'S!, just letting you know that now, I'm just finding a place where I can put them in without being like 'oh look, suddenly there's this new character!' and trying to get them to fit in for more than a couple of sentences**

 **Next, I am actually considering the Demon x Rosaline x Neo ship that was suggested... I don't know why, maybe it's just because I really don't think I can make my shipping any worse, but also because it 'kinda' fits in with the story... plus, Neo is my favourite character from the show, so that kind of helps as well**

 **And finally, I'm breaking out the beers and wine glasses to celebrate 90,000 views of Angels and Demons! *party crackers going off***

 **HAPPY EASTER TO ALL AND I HOPE YOU GET DROWNED IN CHOCOLATE!... not so you die... just... you know what I mean...**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 5:

Forests… a place for calmness and serenity… for listening to the quiet rustling of the leaves on the trees as one wanders on the soft grass beneath… well that was definitely NOT happening right now as Ruby sprinted full-speed through the previously quiet forest, calmly avoiding the rather large Grimm that tracked her as she led it towards the ambush. At said ambush location, Ren, Nora, Jaune and Rosaline crouched behind a fallen log, waiting for Ruby to bring their target… or more accurately, discussing the name of their new team.

"I'm telling you! JNRR is a much better name!" Nora complained as they walked, waving her arms around exasperated. She wore a new outfit that was much the same as her old gear, except for a few slight differences, mainly having a new black jacket and a longer skirt.

 **(A/N - Yes, I still suck at explaining things)**

"But we're helping Ruby with her objective, wouldn't that mean she is the leader? Hence, RNJR!" Ren countered, his normal outfit changed to have a sleeveless shirt, two pink bicep-high gloves over his fore-arms as well as having extended the tails of his tailcoat.

"Guys! We need to focus!" Jaune scolded as he crouched behind the tree trunk, Rosaline crouched next to him as she ruffled through her back-pack. "Plus, JNRR is way cooler"

"SEE!" Nora cheered, Ren deciding it would be another hour-long argument if he tried to counter.

"How come you guys always forget about me!" pouted Rosaline as she took out her two Smart Pistols and loaded in lightning dust rounds, cocking the chamber and putting them onto a magnetic locked plate on the side of her parkour kit. She had changed up her own outfit a bit since the Fall of Beacon, having a few modifications made. Her knee-high brass combat boots were the same, although now she wore black pants under them, rather than her combat skirt. She also wore a regal purple pea-coat with two tails much like Ren's outfit, both going down to just above her knees, a large collar comforting the back of her neck with the same velvet lining on the inside. She still had her white pauldron on her right shoulder, although now the symbol was a dark red rose with flames embellished in black around it. Her gauntlets stayed the same bone-white, but she had attached some of Demon's old enhancements, having the grappling hook and gravity-star catapult installed.

The biggest change, though, had to be the mask she had made before she left for Mistral, a homage to Demon to remember his sacrifice. It was a bone-white half-mask that covered her mouth and nose as well as one eye. Its design was much the same as his, in that where her eyes would be she had it covered with a red glass that displayed a HUD over her landscape without ruining her normal vision. She didn't like the idea of altering her voice, so she had instead opted for having slits cut vertically into the mask much like a knight's helmet.

She had let her hair down and had dyed a single set of locks a blood red, like Ren with his magenta streak. A parkour kit was strapped behind the small of her back and she had installed mag-lock plates for her two pistols.

"We did't forget about you!" Nora nearly yelled, covering her heart with her hand in mock offence, "it's just that there are only four people in a team and we have five, so it kinda doesn't work!"

Rosaline huffed and was about to respond, but not before a titanic rumbling shook the ground, moving the stones and pebbles.

"It's here…" was the only thing Jaune said before they all looked up to see Ruby practically flying through the air as she fired Crescent Rose behind her, her new outfit on display as her cloak fluttered in the wind. What they saw next made them pale… they hadn't expected it to be THAT big! A titanic rock golem lumbered out of the trees and took a swing at Ruby, missing when it didn't see the edge of the cliff and fell into the trees below… right where the rest of them were. It took a massive swing with its club of an arm again and cleared a sizable amount of forest and cutting out something that resembled an arena.

"We have to get it off her!" Jaune commanded, running off to distract it while Ren and Nora jumped up into one of the higher-up trees to get a better vantage point. Just as Rosaline was about to join them, she heard a collection of howls from behind them, turning to see a group of Beowolves hunched over and sprinting full speed towards her, a large group of Grimm behind them as well, just to add to the danger.

"RUBY!" Rosaline shouted, taking out her dual pistols and activating the targeting, watching as they began locking onto the masks of the wolves near the front.

"What's up!" asked the girl as she dashed to stand next to Rosaline, firing Crescent Rose as she did.

"I'm going to go take care of the party crashers, do you think you can take that thing without me?"

"We'll be fine, just don't go doing anything dumb" Ruby warned, dashing back into the thick of the action and leaving Rosaline to take on the horde. She smiled a tiny bit and pulled the trigger, watching as she pulled the trigger and nine Beowolves dropped dead a moment later as three bullet holes appeared in a tight circle in each of their heads.

With practised ease, she pulled on the release switch, dropping the spent mags to the floor and slid in two new ones simultaneously, having multiple clips attached to her parkour kit so that all she had to do is angle them just right and whip them behind her back so that the clips locked in, then she'd be back in action a moment later. It was far better than the one-at-a-time loading she'd been having to resort to whenever both her 18 round mags were spent.

Flipping the counterweight switch after the mags were in place, the handles shifted to be parallel with the barrel and chrome blades flipped out, forming two 6-inch dagger, Rosaline pouring aura through them to activate the dust, coating them in fire and ice.

She had taken to naming them _EmberSnow_ after Nora and Ruby constantly annoyed her for not naming her weapons, so she took probably the most obvious name and despite it being out of practical necessity to stop the two talking her ears off, she had taken a liking to it. _Ember_ as her fire dagger, and _Snow_ as her ice.

With a thought, her two spectral wings shimmered into existence behind her back and she felt invisible tendrils working their way into her shoulder blades as the nerves of the wings connected with her body. She had gained much better control over them than when she had originally, as well as finding out that they were good for a lot more things than flying.

As the next wave of Beowolves approached, she brought her wings in front of her like a shield, beginning to run forward towards them. The first two attacked, their claws ready to tear great gouges into her wings… but they only slid off the wings like it was steel. Their brief moment of shock was quickly righted when the two wings flicked out and sent them both flying, into trees a few feet away with a sickening crack to follow. Rosaline brought _EmberSnow_ to bear and used the daggers to skewer a Beowolf that was trying to hit her from behind.

She quickly whipped them out and jumped back to avoid another slash, reprimanding the offender by slashing mid-air with _Ember_ , causing a wave of fire to burn its hide and make it howl in pain. She jumped forward and slashed its throat, ending the cries. She flicked the switch on _Snow_ back to pistol form and locked onto the rest of the Beowolves that were in her area. One made to try and stop her, but her left wing came up just in time and blocked the swipe, Rosaline using her parkour-kit to jet back into the air while firing her pistol.

Five more dropped to the ground with bullets lodged in their skulls, leaving Rosaline alone in the forest with no more Grimm around… until two Ursai decided to join in. From right behind her, she heard lumber footsteps and used her wings to propel herself into the air, escaping a massive claw by an inch, then turning to see what had tried to kill her. When she saw the two Grimm, she wasn't all too happy but she knew she had it better than RNJR… JRNR?

Using the last of the clip in _Snow,_ she hit the head of one Ursa enough for it to stumble back a bit and give her room to fight the other one. It roared forward and jumped a bit into the air to try and hit her down, falling short by a foot or so. Her wings beat back and she held out _Ember,_ driving it into the Ursa's skull and tearing it out, causing black blood to spew out. She landed on the ground with a thud, behind the massive bear, then quickly flicked the selector on _Snow_ back to a knife, driving them both into its back and stabbing them one after the other repeatedly.

The Grimm roared in pain once again and tried to shove her off, failing miserably as she used her wings to practically hug the creature while her arms could continue their attacks. Just as she was sure it was nearing death, she started to get a very weird feeling, her eyes going wide as she jumped off the Ursa to try and avoid the other as it took a slash at her. She had to twist her body at an almost inhuman angle but just managed to avoid the swipe, using her wings to propel her away from the two Grimm.

She landed about ten feet away and spun around, flipping the selector switches on both her weapons, locking onto the head of the wounded Ursa and pulling the trigger, unloading all 36 shots into its skull. It dropped to the ground with a strangled moan and the other roared in rage, running forward intent on separating her head from her shoulders. She couldn't use the same tactic she had with the last Ursa as this one had spikes covering its back as well, something she definitely didn't want to go near. She re-loaded her pistols and took off the auto-aim, something Demon had failed to actually show her and she had to figure out for herself, then readied herself in her own combat stance, her wing covering her left arm like a shield while her pistol rested on the top.

As the Ursa entered her range, she dove to the side and fired two quick shots aimed for its eyes, one managing to pierce through its iris and make it flinch from the attack. She took advantage of the pause and put the pistol right up to its eye, unloading four more shots before she was hit back by a swiping claw by the Ursa. She flew back a few feet and her parkour kit automatically kept her from spinning, letting her land on her feet and skid for a second. The Ursa roared again and charged, Rosaline staying calm and aiming the pistol again, for its already damaged face.

Every few steps it took, she fired a shot so that it was distracted for a second, she didn't exactly need it to get damaged. While it was still a few feet away, she lifted up her right arm to aim the grappling hook attached on the front, firing it onto the Ursa's kneecap with a bladed grapple, firing the other end into the ground with an anchor point. When the line pulled taught, it slammed face-first into the ground, Rosaline jumping forward and firing even more shots into its eyes. It roared and swept out with its free claw, having it easily dodged by the human it was trying to hit.

She took out a grenade that she had hooked on her belt and pulled the pin, dashing forward and shoving it into the Ursa's open maw before it could even retaliate. Her wings countered its last-ditch attempt to kill her, then she leapt back to watch her handiwork. It roared for a moment before a dull 'thud' escaped from inside its belly and a tiny bit of black smoke started coming from its mouth. It stood still for a couple of seconds, as if coming to terms with the fact that it was meant to be dead, then slumped over onto the ground, Rosaline seeing a large hole in its back where the explosion had escaped.

She let out her breath and felt her adrenaline die down, just as she heard a single shot echo in the forest, Rosaline immediately knowing it was Ruby thanks to Crescent Rose's distinctive discharge. She reloaded her pistols for what she hoped was the last time and mag-locked them, preparing to fly over to the rest of the team with the help of her wings. Just as she jumped and flew a couple of metres, she failed to notice black blur jump at her from the side. The thing slammed into her and sent her sprawling to the ground, rolling her a couple of times before she came to a stop, getting back up to see what had happened.

She looked to see an Alpha Beowolf growling at her through bared teeth, pawing the ground angrily roughly twenty feet from where she stood. It was completely alone and she took consolation at that, deciding she'd test out one of the newer things she'd learnt about her semblance while they were saving a town on the way from Grimm. She took a deep breath and focused all the energy she could into her palms, feeling the nerves into her wings disappearing and a strange tingling sensation move along her body into her hands. Her mind shifted and she began imagining just what she wanted, opening her eyes a second later to see how she went.

In her left hand sat the handle of a longbow, a spectral apparition of a weapon that lightly pulsed with energy, the bow being the same strange ethereal purple material that her wings were composed of, while an arrow for the weapon was held between her fingers in her right hand. She took in another breath and brought up the bow, notching the arrow and drawing it back on a near-invisible bowstring so that her hand was touching her cheek.

Rosaline had just about the same amount of training with a bow than when she did with guns on her first day in Remnant… next to nil. But all she needed was a good aim and after training with different types of weapons after Demon's suggestion, she had grown rather adept at finding exactly where her shot would land. She aimed the tip of the arrow where she judged it would hit the thing's head… then let go.

The arrow was released at lightning speed and slammed into the chest of the Alpha, not exactly where she wanted to aim but close enough, then its work began. As it hit, the point dissolved and spread across the Grimm's body, causing it to roar in pain from the energy, its skin dissolving from the arrow. In less than five seconds, it was coated completely in the glowing purple energy, until it was frozen solid where it stood. A small whimper escaped its throat as it began peeling away into the wind, like one would expect to see when they had died normally, except the flakes were pure purple energy. It continued across its body until there was nothing left and even then, the flakes dissolved into the wind and Rosaline was left alone.

She smiled at her success and pumped her fist into the air, dissolving the bow in her hand and re-forming it into her angelic wings, flying off over to where she had last heard the gunshot. When she arrived, she saw that Ren, Nora, Jaune and Ruby were all sitting around on a log while they checked over their weapons, Rosaline seeing a rather large collection of boulders and a tree scattered around the clearing.

"I take it you had fun?" she asked sarcastically, seeing them all almost jump out of their skins as they saw her float down from the sky.

"YEAH! Team RNJR kicked its but!" Ruby perked up, fist-bumping Rosaline as she walked over.

"Team JRNR!" Nora almost shouted, throwing her hands exasperated into the air, walking off back in the direction of the village they had come from. The other four sighed and followed her, intent on continuing their journey to Haven academy.

 **[Two days later]**

Team RNJR and Rosaline were all laying around the campfire, all of them being exhausted from a day's walking and even more so, for the fact that they had only just came out of the remnants of Shion, the town they thought they could go through next. Only after burying the remains of the late huntsman had they travelled late into the night to find a safer spot to rest, setting up a campfire and going to bed for the night, letting Sid in the Atlas Titan stand on guard over the sleeping students… or was so for three of the group. Two of them had decided to wander off and do their own thing for the night.

Jaune and Rosaline both lost those that they cared about during the assault on Beacon and it was only after conversing a bit over the last few weeks that they learnt that their two respective other halves had left them departing messages. Unlike the one Pyrrha had left, Demon's had been a bit more… unprepared, to say the least. As she stood in the forest on the opposite side of the camp where she knew Jaune was training, she had propped up her scroll with the help of a few sticks with Demon's normal mask filling the screen as the recording played.

"Well, looks like I've gotten myself into another… situation" he began, a loud sigh escaping his helmet before he took it off and picked up whatever he was using to film it, turning the camera to show that he was inside the cabin of a massive airship, showing the massive spire of Beacon Tower in the viewport, "I'm driving a stolen Atlas warship straight at that giant-ass Dragon Grimm in the hopes of killing it so we actually have a chance of winning this… I know what you're going to say, when you see this, 'You have people that care about you!', but that's exactly why I'm doing it… I'd give my life for my friends in the blink of an eye"

A sigh was heard from off camera and he flipped it back around, a small smile on his face shown as he focused in on it.

"Ya' know, I've never said this before, but I love you Rosaline… to tell the truth, I thought you were just an IMC spy when you started wanting to go places with me, so I just rolled along with it, but it wasn't until the dance when I actually started to see you as something else… when I told you about my problems, you didn't run and look at me like I was a psychopath, you actually tried to help… I'm not sure if you truly don't think of me as a monster but I still do"

Rosaline's posture slacked as it always did when she heard that, she just couldn't understand why he was so down in himself.

 _"You're not a monster you idiot… I don't care about what you did, just that you knew you were doing something wrong and that you had a reason behind it"_

A small tear escaped her eye as she continued to listen, refusing to look at the same video she had cried to, not even a week ago.

"The things you've said and done are truly something to be marvelled at and those coffee shop runs were some of the best moments in my life… It just kills me to know that I couldn't do anything for you like you did for me… I'm a terrible person, I kill people for a living and I've led more people to their graves than a small city… you were always too much of an angel to deserve someone like me…"

The Demon on screen let out a small smile and took out his Wingman pistol, cocking the chamber and holding it at his side.

"For a while, I thought that guns were the only things I could trust… they never lie, they never tell a half-truth… if you treat them right, they'll give their best for you and you can only blame yourself for your failures… but you were the one who truly showed that people can be just like that, something you can truly trust your life with"

He put back on his helmet as Rosaline saw tears begin to well in his eyes.

"Know this before you think of following the path that I took, one where no missteps are allowed… a path that only ends when your legs fail to support you and your heart stops beating… a path where sadness is coupled with pain and victory is the crimson taint of blood… this narrow path goes only one way, a way covered with enemies and brother… a path that will take you, without shame, into the cold embrace of death… fight for what is right, for your ancestors, for those you care about… no matter the cause, always know that there is no going back… please, I ask that you stay the same Rosaline that I knew, that you keep the same values and that… you don't blame yourself when I die"

He turned the camera around again and set it up on the dash of his station, letting it point out to where Rosaline could see the Grimm Dragon flying around Ozpin's Tower, seemingly oblivious to the massive warship. She also saw the hundred or so sirens and alarms that filled the cabin, all showing just how little chance Demon stood of surviving.

"Well, it's ShowTime, so I better cut the feed and make sure you get this thing…" said Demon off-camera, a finger blocking the camera for a second as he hit the transmit button, although the camera didn't cut quite yet.

"Let's see…" he muttered before a robotic voice came over the comms systems, ["Core efficiency boosted to 200%, reactor overload imminent: Flight speed exceeding recommended limit, engine pressure building: Failure in 40 seconds"]

The ships shuddered a bit and the scroll nearly fell, only to be righted by Demon again.

"Well, Rosaline… I wish you luck in your later life and that you find peace and solace in whatever you can… leave me behind and find another who you can share your life with, search for a way back home and live your life to its fullest… I've transferred secondary command of Sid and the Titan's to you as well as full authorisation status for anything left back in the pod… no matter what, every morning, remember to get up, dress up, show up and never give up… that's how you know you've got a life to live"

His speech was interrupted by a massive explosion as the Grimm Dragon crashed through the top of Beacon Tower and began flying straight at the warship.

"Au revior mon amour" was the last words he said before the warship crashed into the Dragon and the screen went to static, the last she'd ever see of Demon being swallowed up by the destruction he had brought on himself. It went on for a few seconds until the image was replaced by the training video. He was back in his Militia outfit in what looked to be a firing range, a Carbine held in his grip while his helmet was still shrouding his face.

"Looks like you managed to gain my trust, so I congratulate you on that, although it also means one more thing… you mean something to me, certainly a harder task than the former. More than likely, you're watching this while I'm ten feet under so I'll keep it short… first step, set up your firing position, no matter what you're using there is a specified stance for each, none are the same… once you've got that down, find a target that is comfortably within your range, maybe at 30 metres or so, then pick another one at the limit of your weapons range, about 100 metres if you're using a rifle… and don't be cheap and pick a Smart Pistol! If I told you to use one of those suckers, it's either because you don't need the locking and can free-fire that bastard like a god… or I really don't want you getting hurt during fire-fights"

Rosaline smiled and took out _EmberSnow_ , keeping the tracking off and lining up two targets, one being a rock about 20 metres away and the other, a tree at around 40… she took a deep breath and waited for the next part.

"Now, once you've got your stance, aim at the firsts target and then the second in succession… then continue to go back and forth, locking your sights into position for a moment or two until you know you'll hit it"

She aimed both at the rock, lining both of the reticules up to the same point, then switched to the tree, doing the same, then went back to the first.

"Now, close your eyes and shoot the first target… if you miss, then it's your fault for not doing the first part properly"

Rosaline flicked the safety off and closed her eyes, not that it would do much, it being night and all, then fired. She had attached silencers of course so that the group couldn't hear the shots and wouldn't be startled, although she did hear the small ping the bullets made when they impacted the rock.

"Without opening your eyes, hit the next target, only after you fire ONCE can you open them… I don't want you going cheating on me and opening up to full-auto"

Rosaline quickly switched back to where she thought the tree would be, hoping she would hit, then pulled the triggers. She hesitantly opened her eyes and used the NV enhancement in her new mask to see two holes only about a ruler's length apart on the tree. She smiled and did it again, the shots on the tree being about an inch closer this time.

"Now, this method can really only take you that far, but it can help you in a lot of ways. For one, judging bullet trajectory greatly increases and hip-fired shots are a lot more accurate… then again, you're only standing still at the moment, so next I want you to find those same two spots and then run parallel for as long as you can with the room you have until you lose sight, counting how long it takes, then continue the other way… once you've done that a couple of times, run from left to right blindfolded and hit the closer target, then on the way back you need to hit the furthest target twice… if you miss, then just keep trying until you hit it every time"

After a quick re-load and pausing the video, she moved over until she was to the far right of the targets, just barely able to see them. Just as she put her guns up to begin, she accidentally activated the tracking systems… which began locking onto something. When she looked to see what they were locking on to, as soon as her head reached where they were, the tracking broke and they were gone.

"Ruby, I know you're there!" she called out, knowing that only the red reaper would be fast enough to completely break the tracking with the new chips installed. A moment later, she felt a tiny gust of wind to her right and saw the girl pouting next to her, kicking the dirt nervously.

"So… what'cha doing?" Ruby asked innocently, Rosaline sighing at that and de-activating _EmberSnow_ , mag-locking them and walking back over to her scroll, Demon's video still paused on screen.

"Ruby, I know you were there long enough to figure out what I was doing" replied Rosaline, turning off her scrolls power and putting it away, sitting down on a fallen log and patting next to her, Ruby smiling slightly and sitting next to her.

"I miss him too… I just wish he wouldn't go off and do all this stupid stuff to get himself into trouble!" the younger girl said meekly, almost mumbling as she did, although Rosaline still heard her.

"That was his strong suit…"

Ruby giggled a bit and took out a cookie, splitting it in two and giving one half to her, both biting down on the delicious baked treat.

"Why did you like him?" asked Ruby off-handidly, "I mean, he was a pretty good brother and all, I just don't get why you were so interested in him"

Rosaline ate the last of her cookie before she continued, sighing and bringing up an app on her scroll, bringing up a picture gallery and swiping until she found the one she wanted. She held it up to Ruby and she saw a picture of Demon as she first saw him on his beginning day in Remnant… although it wasn't exactly the way she expected. It was a propaganda poster, made by the IMC… which showed him with a spike going through his chest and several bullet wounds, the words 'Free the Frontier from its Tyranny TODAY!' written across the bottom, as well as 'join the IMC at your nearest recruitment station.

"This is the first time I ever heard of him… he was quite literally portrayed as what his name-sake showed him as, a being off hell that was terrorising the frontier with his every breath. I joined the IMC thinking that it was just an organisation that was having trouble with terrorists, but it wasn't until I was put on communications duty until I realised just how terrible we were… I read through emails against orders because I just couldn't sit there all day and monitor for enemy communications when we were LITERALLY hundreds of light years away, that's when I first started to see the battle reports. The first few seemed alright, they just labelled casualties between IMC and the Militia as they should be, both sides losing a few and the Militia killing a few colonists who got in the crossfire… it wasn't until I read files that reported entire worlds being lost with NO Militia presence that I started to get worried…"

By now, Ruby was sitting as quietly as she could, enraptured by the story, while nibbling slightly at the sides of a cookie she had magically pulled from nowhere.

"I didn't get a chance to do anything though as my commander was a complete ass… he tried to force me to clean his entire quarters and when I said no, he just set my first mission to staff a single-person re-fuelling station on the outer reaches of the frontier. It was lonely as hell for the first two months as I only got a slight relief when I got break every weekend to go to the closest colony world, but other than that, I was literally the only person on an entire planet"

Ruby almost dropped her cookie when she said that, but she managed to hold onto it and only let out a slight 'eeep' as she shuddered from the thought.

"It wasn't until an entire fleet of Militia ships found the base that I got any real action. I could only sit in the command terminal as the automated defences took care of them, although it wasn't until Demon landed that I really began worrying. I had hoped that the EMP pulse that the station had sent out would stop them sending any troops to the ground but apparently, they hadn't and he managed to get inside before I could even comprehend what was happening… he broke through all the robots I had guarding, so I hid in one of the back closets closest to the door with a pistol, hoping that he wouldn't find me…

He blew apart the bottom floor and was just about to hack into our defences, but was stopped when some guy spoke through his helmet. He had his volume on pretty loud so I could vaguely hear what he was saying, although I only really began listening when I heard that they'd be bombarding the station. I broke cover and was about to shoot him, until I remembered what I saw in the files. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and a minute later we were in the hanger ready to leave in my dropship… then after that, we ended up here with no idea what was going on.

Kira was the first to wake up, then she woke me up and we began talking. Even though we were from opposing factions, we ended up having talking about a lot of things and I truly learnt about what the IMC was doing on the frontier. After we woke him up, without even knowing me at all, he gave me his custom weapon so I could fight against a couple of Beowolves because, as you would probably know, I was pretty terrible with a gun back then.

After that, he even told his Titan that I was a friendly and gave me a new gun the second he could. When we came to Beacon, I only had to ask once before he taught me how to shoot properly and gave me my Smart Pistol. I was completely dumbfounded as to why he was being nice and it wasn't until I asked Kira that I began understanding. As far as she knew, he cared for everyone under his command and took IMC prisoners when he could, which she admitted wasn't that many times"

"So he was being nice because he was your leader?"

"As far as I could tell, yes… although, I really thought he was a great guy… when I was talking with Kira later on when he was unconscious after the initiation, she began telling me about her life in the Militia. She told me about how he was basically a living legend for the Militia and whenever he was put on a mission, it went off almost without a hitch… when he had been placed at the head of his own legion, everyone was basically praying to whatever god they believed in to be put in it, until they found out he selected his troops personally. He spent about a week on various missions until he found everyone he wanted and sent them a request that they join, and Kira was luckily one of them… she told of how he wouldn't just be some douche commander and order them around like it was the only thing he knew how, but he would ask literally everyone on the ship about the plan of action, even the lowest ranking people among them.

I really thought he was someone that I could get to like, then he woke up and I got the chance to know him better. He honestly cared about protecting the people around him, even if it meant giving his life… he didn't think he was better than everyone else, just that he had the skill to protect them against those they could not fight themselves… he was kind, just, slightly annoying and he always had time to listen to whatever I had to say…

I guess I really started to realise I liked him when I saw him after he work up from his coma… after that, I just started to see more of the better person he could be and how he truly was on the inside, past everything he thought he was"

Ruby smiled and shuffled closer taking the scroll and flicked across the screen, having an inching feeling about something until she eventually found what she was looking for. Pictures of Rosaline and Demon sitting side-by-side and smiling came onto screen and she saw the older girl show a small smile. She continued scrolling until she saw one that truly stuck. It was a picture of Demon without his mask on, a shit-eating grin on his face, while he was in his suit from the dance, his hood down so that there was no shadows, Rosaline being next to him with a massive blush on her features and a white rose sticking out of her hair.

"He decided to take me out to dinner one night and he gave me that flower, and I didn't really know what to say, so he insisted on taking a photo so that I could remember how I felt later"

"How did you feel?"

"Like he was the only person I wanted to be with…"

Ruby smiled fully and turned off her scroll, taking her into a hug as she saw tears begin to fall from the eyes of the older girl.

"We all miss him…" she consoled, rubbing her back to help her through her tears. They sat like that for a few more minutes, the quiet sobbing coming from Rosaline being the only thing filling the clearing as she cleared the pain out of her system. When she finished, Rosaline tapped Ruby on her back and she let go, both of them sharing a knowing smile before picking up their stuff and walking back to the camp. As they both went, they felt a weird presence in the clearing with them.

As they turned, they saw a dark figure in the shadows of the forest, casting an even stranger shadow onto the dimly lit ground. While they couldn't see the figure, they could see that the shadow they cast made them look a LOT bigger than they were and it even looked like it had wings and horns. A bone-white mask showed where their head would be, but only two blood red eyes showed through the darkness. Before they could say anything, it turned away and began walking away, a long odachi crossing their back and the pale moonlight reflecting off armour that they wore. They moved silently and disappeared completely into the shadows, moulding into them like they were a second skin until they were completely dissolved into nothingness.

"Did…" Rosaline stuttered, "just…"

"See him?" finished Ruby, being just as dumbfounded as her.

"Ruby…"

"Yeah…"

"What the hell did you put in those cookies…"

 **[Continent of Solitas – Schnee Dust Company Headquarters]**

Demon shook his head to clear his mind, strangely having an image of Ruby and Rosaline in a forest randomly coming into his thoughts. Neo tapped his shoulder as if to ask if anything was wrong, which he shook his head to say no. She nodded, not quite believing him, but left it anyway… they had a job to do.

As they both turned back to their task, they saw the massive job that they had just embarked on. Crouched on the top of one of the guard towers of the SDC headquarters, they were both about to begin the task they had come here for… breaking the princess out of her tower… and it wasn't exactly going to be simple with the world's biggest dragon protecting her.

"Wait…" Demon muttered, focussing in on one part of the complex… "Just how many Paladins do they have here!"

Neo held out her hand and began counting on her fingers… and then ran out, beginning again… then after five more runs over her fingers she finally stopped.

"Well… this is going to be fun!" sarcastically muttered Demon as he jumped down… it was time to get Weiss out.


	6. Killing the dragon, saving the princess

**HERE WE GO WITH ANOTHER CHAPTER LADS!**

 **As I've said as an excuse before in just about every A/N, between anime, work and a bunch of other shit, I don't really have time to write this, so the updates are still going to be a bit far apart and nowhere near what it was like when I first started Angels and Demons**

 **If any of you still want to send in weapon names or OC characters for me to add, feel free... and as you might know I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN ANY OC'S THAT WERE SENT IN! I've come up with a great place to add them where they'll get a few chapters or so of action and then I'll have to focus back on the mains...**

 **As to reply to a few review that I haven't already replied to:**

 **1\. Demon won't be giving Jeeves away just yet, after-all, he already tried to sell him already and I don't have any other British people in the story...**

 **2\. Smart Pistols DO have 12 rounds in the mag, although... in the first game, they were available as a primary weapon, for any people who have only played the second game, and you could equip them with Extended Mag, which gave them 18 rounds in each clip**

 **3\. To reply to Longshot's review, I'd be happy to help you with your story, just send me a PM whenever you need help and I'll answer as soon as possible... the offer also extends to anyone else who wants help with writing or a bit of Titanfall lore or the likes, if you send me a PM I'll reply ASAP**

 **Lastly, I need a bit of input from the fans (if there are any)... do you want to have a Demon x Rosaline x Neo? Please leave a review/PM if you do or don't, I think I might be able to pull it off reasonably and I've come up with a couple of scenarios that would legitimately allow for it, besides the classic 'we both like you so why don't we both be your girlfriend!' which I see WAY too much in Fanfictions**

 **PLEASE leave a review on the story, I need to know if this is heading in the right direction or not, so just leave your opinion if you want to**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 6:

Turns out… infiltrating the headquarters of the SDC single-handidly while you only just realised you put a mute on comms… it is a lot harder than you might think. Demon was only now just realizing this as he was surrounded by ten Paladins, all with the entire assortment of weapons aimed directly at him while he held his hands up. The mission had went pretty well, all the way up until he was set to pull the entire thing off without a hitch… and then all his bad-luck seemed to pool together to get him one last time.

When he went into the complex, he already knew that most people would recognize him from the tournament, so he had worn his formal get-up which somehow seemed a lot more appropriate than his normal battle gear. To get in, he had climbed up onto one of the guard towers on the walls of the complex and waited for the guard patrols to switch before he and Neo dropped in silently and split off to take care of their own jobs.

Neo was going to head to the main servers of the entire facility in the hopes that he could get 'some' control over the security or something along those lines, while Demon was heading to take care of the princess… and hopefully not get caught. It wasn't necessarily a matter of 'if' but 'when' he was found… he wasn't exactly one for long-term stealth missions.

So, he had made it inside perfectly well and was creeping the corridors with his cloaking module on to disrupt the camera's and an Active Radar Pulse module to detect where the cameras were as well as any staff or guards that he might need to worry about, which all worked perfectly well until he was standing outside of what was meant to be Weiss' room. He had made sure that Neo triple-checked exactly where she was meant to be staying so he wouldn't go walking in on some random and get slapped harder than he already was going to be, but it still didn't go as planned when he opened the door.

As the massive doors opened, he saw that it was, in fact, Weiss' room… although something was a bit off… mainly that there was no Weiss there. He wasn't sure at first, but after sending out an Active Radar Pulse, he found that there was no-one there… and then he saw the massive hole in the side of the building.

"Well… that's interesting"

He didn't have any time to realize that he had spoken aloud and that his cloak had run out, as he was immediately notified to both facts when he heard a VERY womanly scream echo from behind him at the door. He turned to see… well, it definitely wasn't a woman… it was a boy, probably a little bit younger than Weiss and dressed almost the same, looking like a much younger version of the pictures he'd seen of Weiss' father. The only problem was, he was currently pointing at Demon with a shaking finger and a looked something along the lines of what one might expect when they witness murder.

"It's not what it looks like!" Demon warned, only for the boy to shout out in terror. The Pilot groaned and took out his knife to threaten him to stop… only for the boy to feint on the floor as soon as the chrome blade glinted in the moonlight. Demon sighed in exasperation and took a single step outside the door, being greeted to the sound of several armored guards thundering down the hallway to his left, as well as a couple of Atlesian Knights in tow.

Doing the only logical thing he could think of, he activated his cloak and began sprinting in the opposite direction. This proved to be a mistake though, as the guards began unloading their rifles in the general direction where he disappeared, hundreds of bullets filling the hall in a second.

He swore a bit and began wall-running to speed up, hoping that their terrible aim would save him from being unveiled. It worked for a while as the bullets whizzed past him down the corridor to his right, although one stray bullet impacted against the back of his thigh and flickered his cloaking, letting the guards adjust their aim again. By now he was only a few metres from the end of the corridor and jumped the last few, rounding the corner as the wall at the end was riddled with bullet holes from the soldiers.

He quickly pulled up the map of the complex on his scroll and quickly found the quickest route to the outside, hoping that Neo would cancel any alarms that had been triggered… until blaring sirens sounded in his ears the literal next second after he thought about it. With a large sigh, he de-activated his cloak to save energy and ran as fast as he could to the centre courtyard, pulsing his radar every few second to avoid the large patrols of soldiers.

After about half a minute, he kicked down the massive door into the courtyard and began sprinting across to the infiltration point that he and Neo had entered, where there hopefully wouldn't be any guards. Well… he was right about there being no guards at that tower… because they were all too busy lining the walls with their rifles pointed straight at him. He stopped running the second about twenty spotlights all were pointed down to where he was standing and every gun was clicked off safety and threatening to turn him into Swiss cheese at any second.

Thundering footsteps filled the courtyard as ten Paladins ran across and surrounded him in a circle and began charging up their cannons if he moved. A few red lasers all swiftly made their way to be placed neatly in a clump on his chest from what he could see to be a few automated turret installations.

"So… come here often?" Demon mused, the closest Paladin moving forward and the hatch opening to reveal what appeared to be a grizzled SDC guard captain with a cigarette in his mouth. He took a massive draw from the smoke and puffed it out in Demons direction, the small cloud managing to stay together in the cold air right until it puffed around his mask, taking it out and throwing it to the floor and then using the Paladin's foot to snuff it out.

"Well, what do we have here!" the man said, a slight Irish accent, making Demon snicker a bit at how funny it sounded, "A bloody heathen steppin' all over our property, tryin' to make off with Miss Schnee!"

"Does it look like I have her?" Demon countered, not really phased by the hundreds of guns pointed his way.

"Well then, where is she!"

"Hell if I know, I only came here to break her out and she already left!"

"And we're just supposed to believe that?"

"Good point… well, I'm walking out of here anyway" off-handidly answered Demon, turning around and walking towards the main gates of the complex. He was stopped when two Paladins moved into his way and blocked the path to the gates, Demon deciding to play with his food and feign insult.

"I was just going to leave here nice and calmly and you just went ahead and stepped on my dream like it was a bug! Shame on you!"

"You ain't leavin' here until you tell us where Miss Schnee is!" Ordered the commander, his features turning into a scowl as he moved the massive mech forward and lowered it down to the Pilot's level, "There is no way you are leaving here alive if you so much as sneeze!"

"Hmmm… I was just about to say the same thing to you… I don't think I brought enough coffins for everyone though, you all have life insurance, right?"

The commander cracked up laughing as did some of the other Paladin drivers that had heard him, all while Demon kept the same smug grin. The commander moved his Paladin back and gestured around to the mass of troops surrounding the lone infiltrator.

"I HAVE AN ARMY, and you think YOU'LL be walking out alive! You're just one man, what can you possibly do to get out of this?"

Demon just smiled and put his hands in his pockets while staring at the captain.

"Ah, but that is where we differ, good friend… where you see one man… I see four!"

"See four?" he questioned back, not at all getting what he was saying, while Demon stood there awkwardly.

"C4? … Ahhhhh, crap! I forgot you don't have that stuff here… well, maybe this will clear thing up for you!"

He pulled his hand out of his jacket pocket and the commander paled at what was in his grips. Demon held a remote detonator that had a small button on the top of it and a flashing red light on the side, something which turned green the second he pressed down on it. The commander looked around to see hundreds of tiny, flashing red lights lining the walls of the facility as well as more than a few that were positioned around the automatic spotlights and gun emplacements.

"Now, this detonator is a dead-man's trigger… If I so much as loosen the pressure on this button, the entire compound turns to rubble"

"The Paladin's armour is enough to stop the explosion, plus you'll be killing yourself!" the captain argued as he desperately tried to salvage the situation, his hands slowly moving to the controls of the large mech.

"I'm not aiming to kill any of you, I'm simply holding the hundred-or-so un-armoured guards that are stationed on the walls as hostages… do you want it to be on you that these innocent men died?"

The guard captain growled and stood stock still, his knuckles going a ghostly white as he tightened his grips on the hand-holds of the Paladin.

"Now, I'm going to walk calmly out of here and make my way to the nearest Airship port, where I will make my escape to an undisclosed location where you will never see me again!"

Demon turned to the two Paladins that blocked his path and made a shooing motion, as if he was telling a small child to stop bothering him, while they both just stood there in disbelief.

"Move aside…" grumbled the commander, both Paladin pilots taking a moment to register this before they slowly began moving aside to let him through. Demon began leisurely walking to the main gate which was already opening slowly as the guards on either side opened them, leaving him a large gap in which to pass through. He did a mock bow to the guards and made it to the large portal, turning to the guard captain before he made his escape.

"You really should know that I meant Miss Schnee no harm, I simply came here to free her from her father's grips and take her back to Vale"

"Then why did you break in?"

"Do you really think Mr High and mighty would let me walk out of his compensation mansion with his daughter without anything to say about it…"

"Then where did she go?"

"I have no idea, but I intend to find out as soon as I leave… I can't really think of anyone who'd be ballsy enough to try and kidnap her"

"You're one to talk!"

"I was going to get her to come willingly… I don't think she'd have any trouble leaving her 'dear' father behind to return to being a Huntress in training"

"And she'd just leaving with you why?"

"Let's just say I'm an old acquaintance… and with that, I must bid you adieu, for I have a long night ahead of me to try and track down a run-away princess"

Demon turned and took a couple of steps through the door, pressing a button on the side of one of his bracers to signal to Neo that they were compromised and it was time to leave. He stood there a few feet in front of the gates for some time, almost laughing as he saw that every soldier had already turned to look at him and hadn't even bothered to try and do anything to stop him. It wasn't long before he heard a roaring engine and Neo came speeding around the side of the compound on Cerberus, Demon finding out some time ago that she was actually quite adept at driving things other than just an Airship.

She pulled up next to him and she jumped off, letting him get into the driver's seat as she jumped on behind him and wrapping her arms around his chest to hold herself on. Just as he was about to speed away, he turned to see the captain walking towards him, out of his mech, with his arms up in surrender.

"I wish to talk" he said simply, stopping a foot or so away from the Pilot.

"Go ahead, I don't really have anything against that"

"If what you say is true, then I hope you do find out what has happened to Miss Schnee, but you must know, we are hired to protect the SDC's assets, which unfortunately includes eliminating any intruders on the premises… plus, we can't exactly trust you, so I don't know what to do"

"Do your job, if you're hired by the SDC, then hunt me down the second I get out of range… although, I have to ask, are you mercenaries?"

"Did you really think that Jacques would be able to find anyone WILLING to protect his company?"

"Point taken… although, you might be seeing me a bit sooner than you'd expect if that is the case, I'm in need of a guard detail and you'd fit the bill"

"You're offering me a job after you break into my client's house, possibly kidnap his daughter and then hold the majority of my men as hostage so you can escape?"

"Do you want proof that I wasn't here to kidnap Weiss?"

"I don't think there'd be anything you have that can prove that you weren't"

Demon smiled behind the scarf that covered his mouth and held out his hand, Neo putting something into it a second later, the object being passed to the captain a moment later. His eyes went wide when he saw what it was, being GREATLY inclined to not believe that it was real for even a moment, yet what he held was undeniable proof to his intentions. It was a written message from Winter Schnee herself, addressed to anyone who it may concern, expressly stating that he meant no harm to her sister and that he shouldn't be considered an enemy if he encountered any guards.

"Why didn't you just start out with this! I'd have taken you to her quarters on a damned red carpet!"

"And you'd have kept your job after your employer realized that you let me 'kidnap' his daughter…"

"True… so why did you bother to plant all those explosives?"

Demon just smiled and took back the note and gave it back to Neo who put it away in a satchel that hung across her back, the engine being revved and the bike being pointed straight down the large promenade which led away from the massive complex.

"It's surprising how cheap it is to buy a two-hundred pack of battery-powered flashing lights at this time of the year!" Demon snickered as he gunned the engine, doing a wheelie as he sped off, leaving the guard captain behind to think over what had just happened.

"Cheeky bastard!"

The massive smile on his face was quickly locked away when one of his men rushed up behind him and quickly fell into a salute.

"SIR! The bombs that were planted are duds!"

"Well then, what are you waiting for! Get the jeeps ready and give me some god-damned Bullheads with heavy-ordinance, we're busting that bastard to kingdom come!" ordered the captain, knowing full-well that it probably wouldn't be enough to catch him, if the speed at which his bike was going was anything to go off. He smiled to himself and dismissed the soldier, walking off to his personal jeep and getting into the gun turret and activating the power battery for the weapon.

"Let's roast him!" roared the commander as the jeep lurched forwards as they slammed on the accelerator, several others joining behind him.

 **[Two Kilometres away – With Demon and Neo]**

As Demon brought Cerberus to an even higher speed and engaged the overclocking on the reactor, he almost didn't feel the light taps on his shoulder from Neo.

"Are they following?" he asked through a small mic next to his mouth, Neo having a small earpiece so that she could hear him. She tapped twice on his shoulder, their signal for yes, so he settled down the speed a bit so he could focus in the mirrors for a second. He could see a few dots down the road, probably the ground convoy, although it was the three airships that were speeding towards him with what he guessed to be missiles hanging under the wings.

"Well, this is going to get interesting!"

He focused back on the road and gunned the engine again, getting them to a good cruising speed of WAY over what he guessed to be the speed limit. With the SDC headquarters so far away from the city of Atlas, the only real way to get there was on a long road that was at least ten kilometres long, both sides of the road being bordered by massive pine forests, where the canopy was already covered almost completely with pure white snow. The road was, miraculously, free of any cold effects which was far better conditions than Demon was prepared for.

As much as the conditions were favouring him, he still had around seven kilometres until he made it to the city and with three bullheads armed to the teeth following him, he didn't exactly like his chances. It wasn't for another two kilometres that they had any worries from the SDC guard, although when it came… it was in the form of four Predator Level Dust missiles.

Neo began furiously tapping on his shoulder to get his attention but he just sighed as a reply, taking out a small ball-shaped device and pressing a button on it, throwing it behind them where it landed on the round and stayed where it was. The little ice-cream assassin wasn't exactly sure what it had done until the missiles passed over where it was, their flight paths becoming erratic and random until they veered so far off their intended targets that they slammed into the forest either side of the bike.

It wasn't long before the bullhead pilots realised their mistakes and spun up the gimbal-mounted minigun on the front of the ship and began firing on the vehicle. Neo immediately took the initiative and began trying to block any shots that came their way, making sure to not open her umbrella, lest she have a repeat of her incident during the attack on Beacon.

Demon got the pressure off her a bit when he began slightly swerving from side to side so that their aim was even less accurate. It wasn't long before they released another missile aimed to take out the cycle, although Demon had other ideas. When Neo tapped him on the back to alert him, he pulled on the breaks for the back wheel, slowing down immensely… so much so that the missile couldn't turn fast enough and slammed into the ground in front of them, not so much as scratching their aura.

The three bullheads also over-shot their targets and quickly began trying to turn around to track them, Demon already putting the throttle to max and speeding along the road once again.

He could see the signs of the shipyard and the Airships that were departing as well, hopping to high heaven that there would be some chance of them getting on one. After another minute or so of avoiding the chasing combatants, he veered sharply into the first entrance to the shipyard and began looking for anything that could get them out of there.

He spared a brief glance on the large shipping manifest that was being scrolled through on a massive billboard near the departure terminal and saw one that could prove to be useful. There was a shipping freighter set to leave in two minutes in one of the small cargo ports.

"Neo, I've found a way out, but I think I'm gunna need some of your… skills, so that we don't get busted"

She tapped him on the shoulder again to say she had heard and Demon prepared to implement his plan, smiling to himself at how funny this would be to watch.

 **[Back with the SDC captain]**

"What do you mean he gave up?" shouted the captain over the mic, holding a hand up to his ear to activate the earpiece, laying back in the gun turret of his jeep.

" _He's just standing there, sir! He got off his bike and we have him surrounded… we've already checked of any outside interference and there does not appear to be anything"_

"Hold position until I get there!"

He kicked the back of the driver's seat with his foot and the driver got the message, activating the overcharge so that they could get to the landing pads as fasts as possible. They hadn't used it during the chase because, even at full speed with the nitro on, they wouldn't be able to keep up with the bike or any of the airships.

A minute later, the jeep rolled into the airship and, sure enough, he saw the intruder laying back on his bike nonchalantly while the three airships circled around him with their miniguns spooled up and ready to fire. The first thing that the captain noticed was that it was only him… he didn't have that girl he saw with him, which set off the first warning bell. The other was the fact that neither his bike, nor him, were giving a shadow when the three Bullheads were shining massive spotlights down on his position. His gut dropped and he brought his machine gun to bear, firing a test shot at his bike… and then watching as it shattered into a million pieces like it was made of glass.

The man was still leaning back on thin air for some reason and when another shot went his way, the same thing happened, his target shattering into hundreds of pieces and falling to the floor.

"Well… crap"

 **[Back with Demon and Neo an a 'commandeered' cargo vessel]**

As he looked out the closing door of the cargo bay, Demon held back the urge to laugh as he saw the look on the commander's face, almost feeling sorry for the poor sod, although it was left quickly when he realised what would have happened if he was caught.

"Well that went better than expected!" he hummed, turning to Neo, who had a face that was paler than a ghost for some reason, "what's wrong?"

He didn't have a chance to find out before he was slapped so hard across the cheek that he could have sworn that the guards heard it even with the doors shut.

"WHAT THE…"

He was stopped again when he saw just who had caused his grievance… Weiss. She was standing there with a look of absolute fury directed solely towards him, her hands on her hips while she tapped her foot expectantly.

"Explain… now" she commanded, giving him the worst death-stare he had seen her give ever since he'd met her.

"Ummmm… I magically survived fighting off a gigantic Grimm dragon through the power of bullshit until I woke up a month after the attack speared through the chest with several poles, which I proceeded to pull out after I found Tempest still alive and then we busted out of Beacon after finding a Bullhead and flying fast enough to avoid the hundreds of Gryphons trying to kill us, as well as picking up Neo along the way, then we made a plan and I came here to try and take you back to Vale and then we'd go get Blake and RWBY would be back together again and then we can go and kick Salem's ass!" he spurted, never once taking a breath and filling her in on the important details.

"Salem?"

"Evil witchy person who's in charge of the attack on Beacon and Grimm in general"

She stood there for a second, tapping the underside of her chin in thought, before she eventually looked back to him with a completely neutral face, filling him with a tiny bit of hope… until he was slapped with the power of a truck… again.

"I believe you, but that doesn't mean you're in the clear… you still have a lot of explaining to do!"

"Oh, come on! I only just managed to escape being mauled to death by your security forces after breaking into your house to kidnap you!"

"You broke into the SDC headquarters… to kidnap me!"

"Well, I was going to see if you'd come peacefully at first… then we'd move onto Plan B"

"Which was?"

He was about to respond, before realising it was probably best that he DIDN'T tell her what he had planned… his cheek would be on the other side of his mouth by the end of it.

"That's a story for another time, but I need some questions from my end… like WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE!"

She gave him an exasperated look and sighed, before sitting down on one of the nearby crates.

"My father was being unbearable, so I decided to take matters into my own hands"

"You ran away because you couldn't talk to your father?"

She shied away a bit before answering, Demon seeing a tiny bit of guilt racking her features.

"He disowned my right to the SDC…"

Of all the things, she could have said, this was definitely the one he was not prepared for…

"Ummm… that sucks?" he said, only earning a slight 'no shit!' look from Weiss before she continued.

"Apparently, I would be bad for public relations after a little… incident, that I happened to be a part of. So, he renounced my claim and gave it to my snob of a brother!"

"Let me take a guess… is he really short, looks a bit like your father except when he was like ten, shouts 'Long live Jacques!' at the top of his lungs every day and licks your father's boots clean every day?"

She let out a small sigh and a tiny smile, which Demon almost let out a cry of triumph, mainly because it was one of the few moments where he had seen her actually show something resembling a smile.

"You're not far off…"

She looked around a bit to try and change the conversation topic, until he eyes settled on Neo. She raised her eyebrows a bit as she only just now realised that the girl was actually with them.

"Why exactly is she here… now I'm not so sure about the whole 'you not kidnapping me' part!"

"Well… it's a long story"


	7. Family reunion?

**Trust me when I say this... I am trying desperately trying to update this as fast as I can, but I honestly have a third of the spare time I did when I started Angels and Demons, which I why I can only really focus on this fanfic and post a couple of other chapters for stories which I write when I'm getting writer's block for his plot... so please bare with me**

 **On that note, I'm in need of a couple of opinions from you guys on some topics...**

 **1\. If the cast of RWBY were to get some of the newer Titans from Titanfall 2, what Titans would you give them as well as any weapons? (IF they were to get them)**

 **2\. I've got a couple of reviews and PM's for the Demon x Rosaline x Neo love-triangle thingy, which I'm probably going to end up doing, but I want to know if any of you people out there want any other ships for the characters that aren't already shipped... which includes Josh, Jaeger, Markus, Weiss, NOT RUBY! (no under-age shit allowed!) and Kira... I've got plans to use a couple of the more canon ships, such as ReNora, as well as (reluctantly) BlackSun... I ship Bumblebee, but after Yang got put with Tempest after my friend pissed me off about it, that isn't really an option...**

 **3\. What should the Semblances be for the characters that don't have theirs yet? Send me any ideas, no matter how crazy or OP they may be, so I can get some idea of what I should make them...**

 **PLEASE leave reviews or PM me with any questions you have...**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 7:

"Well, well, well… hello again people of the world known as Earth, it's time for us to continue the glorious story behind MY life again! This is Tempest talking if you haven't already guessed, mainly because the Author hasn't put some shit before this explaining who I am… but anyway, we're coming back into the story at a time when we're not really doing anything badass when we're on the way to Mistral in a slow-ass boat to meet up with the others while Demon goes off building up that harem of his…"

"HE'S DOING WHAT!"

"Shhhh… Yang, you're interrupting my introduction! Anyway, RNJR and Rosaline are off doing something at god knows where, so we sent Josh ahead to try and do some reconnaissance of their intended path in case we overtake them or anything, mainly because the aircraft here move slower than a 90 year old diabetic other than the Bullheads, and we only had one of those… but mainly, we sent him so he could have something more to do with the plot because the other three from my team are basically third-rate characters"

"I'm far better than you, Tempest! I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up having a journalist following me for the remainder of my life to document my amazing self"

"JAEGER! I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTRODUCTION! Well, the Author's probably going to stop me and my rant as soon as he finishes bloody focusing on OTHER fanfictions! Seriously dude, get your damned priorities straight!"

It was at that moment that a brick fell from above and slammed into his head.

"Seriously! A Brick! We're on an Airship, how is that even possible!"

A tiny Nevermore, no bigger than a crow, crashing into the floor of the landing bay in front of the Pilot with a tiny message attached to its foot. Tempest picked it up and hesitantly opened it.

" _I don't give a crap… I'll let you off on this one because I'm feeling lazy, so go ahead and finish the introduction and then go back to doing whatever you were doing"_

"Feeling lazy aye? Sure you aren't abandoning us again to go write a different story!"

Not receiving a reply, he was sure he'd gotten away with it, until Yang came in through one of the side doors holding her right arm.

"Tempest, my arm's feeling pretty numb all of a sudden, do you have anything to fix pins and needles?"

"Bastard…" mumbled Tempest under his breath.

"Oh, never mind, it's gone now!" she said happily, walking back out the door back to her room.

"Fine, I get it! I'll finish the damn intro… as I was saying, he'll stick you right in with the Canon-ish team to explain his plot holes and do some more plotty-stuff, then completely skip over the Nuckelavee fight because Rosaline being there doesn't change anything and he doesn't want to include the Titan because it's pretty OP, so he'll find something to occupy it while they fight… and then, he'll finally continue his version of the crappy canon he's running with and let us meet up somehow using bullshit plot points that don't connect at all"

"TEMPEST! My arm feels like it's going to fall off! I need some of the pain medication!"

"On second thoughts, the author is the single best writer I've ever seen in my entire life and should be given multiple awards for his beautiful work of art known as this story, where there are absolutely no plot-holes and the entire plot line is so well-written that it would take an ape to not be able to figure it out…"

"Oh, it's gone again, never mind!"

"Asshole…"

 **[Town of Higanbana, West of Haven, continent of Anima]**

Qrow wasn't exactly one for staying in places for long, mainly because of the 'unfortunate' effects of his Semblance, but mainly because Ozpin wanted him undercover for just about everything and he was pretty easy to recognise, even with a disguise on… and he was NOT going to shave his facial hair no matter how much complaints he got. So, when a legitimate reason for him to stay put for more than 24 hours came to light, he made use of it… by immediately making himself well-acquainted with the nearest tavern.

Now, he was enjoying his time by himself at the bar, drinking to his heart's content, enjoying the view, mainly of the barmaid, savouring the brief moment of respite he could find amongst all the recent turmoil… that was until he was given a drink, compliments of a certain 'someone' from up on the second level of the tavern.

With a heavy sigh, he finished his current drink and politely accepted the new addition, walking up the stairs and sitting down opposite said person who had taken the liberty of gaining his attention.

"Hello brother…" she started, not at all sounding interested with meeting with him, making it seem as though it was more of a chore than anything.

"Raven…" he replied, taking a small sip from his drink before setting it down, sighing heavily "what do you want?"

"A girl can't just catch up with her family?"

"You've certainly been doing a great job of that over the last few years…" he replied coldly, earning a scowl from the woman.

"Does she have it… you must know that it is imperative we can't let it fall into her hands"

Qrow ignored her at first, looking down with a mix of disappointment and guilt.

"Did you even know that Demon died during the attack on Beacon…"

"That's not what I asked…"

"Rhetorical question… I know you know, it just pisses me off that you act like your kids don't even exist half the time, even when one of them comes back from another damned universe!"

"I talk to him… you know why I don't talk to her…"

"Great job sis, real 'Mum of the Year' material right here, should I get you a mug or something?"

Her scowl deepened and she took a swig from her own drink, going back to intently glaring at him once she finished.

"I told you that Beacon wouldn't be able to fight back… I told you that Ozpin wouldn't be able to stop her… and I haven't been wrong so-far. So, I ask you again… Does. She. Have. It?

"You're not at all interested in your children, are you?"

"I'd like to know what I'm up against and I know that both of them can take care of themselves"

"ONE OF THEM IS DEAD!" he half whispered-half shouted.

She smiled slightly and replied with as much sarcasm as she could muster.

"Looks like someone's getting an 'uncle of the year' award as well… he survived Beacon and united a splinter faction of the White Fang that survived the attack on Beacon, as well as beginning to produce a plan and the means to take back said academy" she told him proudly, smiling to herself at the small victory.

"How…" he muttered, not quite believing the word of his not-so-trustful sister.

"Hell if I know, all that I can say is he definitely has the Branwen genes…"

Qrow muttered something to himself as he swept back his hair and took a swig from his drink, finishing it off completely with a slight huff of disappointment.

"You shouldn't have come here Raven, you know that there is no way we can beat her is together… you can't just go lone wolf for the rest of your life, you should come back…"

"You're the one who left Qrow… they were the ones who found us first and gave us purpose, you can't just dismiss them as easily as you have"

"They were killers and thieves!"

"They were out family!"

"You have a VERY skewed perception of that word"

Raven became infinitely more upset as he continued, becoming sick and tired of his constant sarcasm, almost shouting when she addressed him next.

"I lead their people because they have a reason… without them, this whole world will perish and I can't just let that happen"

"You can't seriously believe that bullshit that they're spewing out just so you can't leave"

"I've SEEN the things they talk about and trust me when I saw that the Grimm are the least of our worries… I'm simply ensuring that I do everything in my power that we survive"

"I've seen… and the people of Shion saw too…"

"They were part of the problem…"

"I couldn't really ask the corpses, now could I?"

"They were… doing things, that just weren't right, their view on things were distorted and they were actually WORSHIPPING the Grimm… I think she has more of a hold on people than we think"

Qrow's eyebrows raised slightly as he once again questioned the truthfulness of his sister.

"I've already said, the things they talk about… they just can't be real… even Ozpin said that they aren't there and I know he wouldn't lie"

"And yet, he's lying in the rubble of his destroyed academy with all of his life's work destroyed"

"How can you talk about him like that! He gave us a chance that no-one else could have!"

"So did the clan, and so did that bastard who took us in afterwards… yet you clearly speak of one of them in SUCH a positive light"

"You didn't leave him much of a choice…"

"I GAVE HIM EVERY CHOICE! And he chose to abandon me… you can go around and criticise me on every other choice in my life, but I know for a FACT that I made the right decision when I left… if you won't tell me where the relic is, then this conversation is over…"

She stood up and picked up her helmet, about to place it over her head, until Qrow grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Please… Raven… at least consider coming back. If not for my sake, then for Yang and Ruby's... they need a mother in their lives after what happened to Summer"

Raven finally snapped and looked an inch away from slapping Qrow across the side of his face as she wrenched her arm from his grips, placing the mask over her head and walking taking a step back so that she was out of reach.

"You do not DARE try and use her as a bargaining tool… I promise to come back to your little 'family', if you can even call it that, the second that I do what needs to be done… or the second that your bastard friend explains to his god-damned daughter why I'm not there for her"

"Why can't you…"

"There is no way in hell that Yang will believe me if I say anything, it has to be from him"

"He can't as much as you won't… Yang wouldn't have anyone to turn to when she finds out and I doubt it's going to be after you come back"

"Then it serves him right for all the shit he's done, I still don't get why you are friends with the guy?"

"I owe him that much for everything he's done for us… and I can't blame him for at least considering it given how you were at the time…"

Raven scowled to an even more impossible degree and took out her odachi, flicking him across the wrist with the flat of the blade before slashing it near the wall, forming a portal and quickly walking through, the gateway collapsing shut behind her as quickly as it was formed. Just as he was about to get up, he heard the sound of smashing glass and turned to see the barmaid with a dumbfounded look crossing her features, while she stood there shaking in fear.

Qrow just sighed and held up his empty glass, two ice-cubes still sliding around inside.

"Better make this one a double…"

 **[One day later – Team RNJR and Rosaline]**

There are many things that demand the attention of a group of Hunters and Huntresses in training… so when the team heard an interesting ship that had crashed a few kilometres from the town, a design that wasn't even being used by the Atlesian military despite its obvious military ties, they couldn't help but go out to at least investigate what it could possibly be.

It was also a rather large coincidence that the crash wasn't even off their intended path anyway, a large plume of black smoke billowing into the sky on their way towards Haven. The journey towards the crash wasn't that hard, considering that they had a cobbled road to travel on, but when they got there, they couldn't have even considered the tragedy that they would find.

Rosaline instantly knew what it was the second she saw the insignia that was painted on the side of the dropship, the design something that she definitely remembered from her days in boot camp. It was a Crow class dropship, the classic cross-bones of the Militia painted on the side, with both of its engines billowing fire and the charred remains of soldier's bodies could be seen through the cracked glass that led to the internal bay, a large trail of ripped up dirt that showed how it came down, felled trees lying in the path of its crash.

As they continued to come closer and closer to the crash site, the sickening sound of tearing flesh was evident in the air and was only confirmed by the horrific sight of a Beowolf lunching on the spilled guts of a Militia Pilot, a rifle strewn a few inches from his grasp as he lay in a position that showed how he was still trying to fight back in the final moments of his life. A quick shot from Crescent Rose blew the head off the Grimm and it dissolved over the life-less corpse of the soldier, only opening the true horror of the scene up to the team.

They grimaced when they glanced at the sight of the open wound and the desecration of his body, but focused their minds back to the crashed dropship and what could have happened. When they finally came within a few metres of it, they finally got a good view of what had caused the crash, seeing a barely-visible Nevermore feather shrouded by the solid-black smoke, the massive feather piercing the fuel lines to the engines and somehow setting it on fire.

As she watched, Rosaline noticed that there wasn't any actual fire left, no flames even licking out from the charred remains of the fuel tank, thanking luck that it hadn't exploded and turned the dropship into an unrecognisable shrapnel jigsaw puzzle… until she realised it probably would have given them a more painless death than being burnt alive.

Feeling that it was probably safe to move closer, she steeled herself for the horrors that lay within and went around to the half-open door at the back of the aircraft, ducking underneath the low-ceiling and stepping inside. The bay of the ship was covered in more gore and guts than she could have possible seen from the outside and she felt a tiny bit of bile find its way to her throat before she reluctantly swallowed it down.

She ignored the charred corpses, flinching when she saw a large batch of un-exploded grenades inside a cracked carry-case, relaxing when she realised that, much like the fuel tank, if they were going to explode, they would have done so a LONG ago.

She shuffled along through the cabin, ducking low to avoid a beam that had cracked through the top of the ship's cabin, climbing up the short flight of steps to get behind the pilot. She reluctantly went forward and checked on the pilots, beings surprised to see that neither of them were scorched in any way, yet both of them had their body's strewn over the instruments, the safety belts being pulled taught against their body, doing nothing to stop their necks snapping forward from the crash.

As much as she wanted to give them some form of burial, she wasn't here to covet the dead, she was here to find out just what happened. Having the time to peacefully fix up an entire Goblin class dropship single-handidly meant she had some idea where they kept all the ship logs. With a few moments of prodding around with some of the near-broken panels and trays that were sitting around the cockpit, she was rewarded when she finally found the ship's black box, as well as a smaller disc-tray containing a personal log-book from one of the pilots.

She wiped them of some of the dust they had accumulated and walked outside again, finding that Ruby, Jaune and Nora were no-where to be seen, while Ren meditated on a bare patch of grass, the massive Atlas Titan standing behind him keeping guard.

"Where are the others?" she asked quietly, the calm lotus-warrior not moving a muscle at her speech until he spoke.

"They went in search of any other survivors…"

"And you didn't?"

"There are no tracks that lead from the ship that I can see, other than the man we saw earlier… I didn't want to tell the others and break their hope, we don't have much left" he replied solemnly, still not breaking his meditation.

"Ok then, we should probably leave pretty soon if we want to get to Haven anytime soon… I'm not sure if Ruby ended up trying to figure out how long it will take us"

"Depending on how we rest or not, it'll take roughly 2 weeks to reach Haven by foot if we take all short-cuts and sleep for only 8 hours each day"

Rosaline sighed at the news and walked over to Sid, looking up to the bundle of optics and the small devil horns overhead, feeling a small pang of nostalgia.

"Sid, fall stance!" she ordered, the Titan instantly falling to one knee and opening the cockpit, the same way it would if it had just been called in from a carrier above. She jumped up onto the top of its knee and stepped up the open cockpit, turning around and sitting down in the Pilot's seat, the massive mech standing up and closing the cockpit door, the normal manual control start-up beginning as the five screens synced with the camera's outside to provide a flawless view through the solid 5-inch thick metal armour that covered the cockpit.

"Welcome Pilot: Designation – Rosaline Sentetar… commencing Pilot link"

"Cancel link" she interrupted, stopping a small wave of lights crossing the screen. She didn't have a clue on how to complete the Pilot link procedure in the Titan because it gave absolutely no prompts on how to continue after the entire screen just filled with small green lights crossing the screen and it took her a good two days to realise she didn't need to complete it to actually Pilot the Titan.

After Sid managed to walk his way through the Emerald Forest and into Vale, she found him standing uselessly at the edges of the city with a bunch of police officers trying to figure out what it was. As soon as it saw her, it powered up and walked over to her, saying a phrase that had burned itself into her memory.

"Under orders from my late Pilot, you have been promoted to active Pilot and have been assigned to level 3 AI, Sid… congratulations"

 _Late Pilot… meaning he's dead_

She had wanted to confirm her suspicions and quickly jumped inside the mech, booting up the in-built scanner like Demon had showed her, connecting to the vital-sensors throughout his suit, monitoring his health and such, collapsing into tears when she saw that he no longer had a heart-beat, as well as several protrusions cutting through his armour and shredding his insides to pieces.

He had given her complete control over Sid and his Atlas Titan, as well as apparent access to every single one of the files he had stored on there, although there was one specific function that she needed right now.

"Sid, I need a black-box decrypted"

"Understood, opening decryption tray now…"

A small section of the cockpit, to her right, flipped down and she saw a black-box already in there, taking it out without a second thought, placing her own in there and closing it up after.

"Decoding… finished, files ready for playback"

"Skip on the video, I just need a transcript"

"Understood… please wait while speech-to-text translates… complete, playing now"

She watched as hundreds of sections of script came up across the screen, all date-labelled and categorised so that she could play through it.

"Play most recent…"

She watched as a small loading icon came up and a large section of script filled it next, blocking her view on the outside world. As she read through the last moments of the ships logs, what she found next was interesting to say the least. Just like when the rest of DRSK, it had logged a warp-jump, although when she looked at the co-ordinates, it didn't really help to locate where they were

 **Warp Jump logged : 0400 hours : Jump to - Longitude: ?° ?′ ?.?″ - Latitude: +?° ?′ ?.?″**

 _Great…_

There wasn't really anything else that was important that she could pull from the black box, so she ejected it and loaded up the pilot's personal logbook. It took some time and eventually prompted her for a passcode, something that Sid managed to side-step thanks to the hacking protocols that Demon installed on just about every AI and computer he had.

She quickly went to work and looked up the latest log-book, feeling a bit guilty for invading the person's privacy, even more so with the fact that they were also dead.

 ** _Loading file… Private logbook of pilot: Leana Johnson… Playing..._** _  
Well, we're finally being shipped out to take out that damned IMC base that's been passing off the fleet for a week now, I'm just happy I ain't goin' with the SRS and having our asses kicked by some IMC smucks… then again, we probably ain't going to fare any better with the shitstorm they're sending us into… I figured that they wouldn't go for another place that's protected with enough railguns to turn out ships into spaghetti, but I can't really complain as long as the Pilot's manage to disable the guns… I just hope I make it back to Harmony so I can see my family again, it's been too long…  
_ _ **File End… initiation playback of next file…**_

The next few minutes of her time was spent scrolling through as many of the files as she could, her guilt quickly giving way to curiosity as she found out some facts that she never thought could possibly come to life. She just couldn't believe that the Militia had managed to assault the IMC's main re-fuelling and docking port at Demeter, even more so that the entire fleet hadn't been wiped out in the process. She had nearly had a heart attack when she saw that the IMC had developed some prototype time-folding weapon, letting out the breath she held when she saw that it was destroyed… along with the planet it was on.

As she continued reading, she was so engrossed in the story of what had unfolded on the Frontier while they were gone that she almost didn't notice Ruby tapping on the front of her optics while shouting her name. After she did, she popped the locks on the hatch so that Ruby jumped to the side, then continued until it was all the way down and then walked up onto it and crouched near the end of it so that she could talk to the rest of the team below her.

"What's up?" she asked, seeing that Ruby's face had gone back to her normal cheerful self rather than the solemn look she had expected after she was searching for survivors… which meant she had found something.

"WE FOUND ONE!" she nearly shouted, jumping up and down in barely contained excitement, the others cracking small smiles as well, even Ren.

"Found one what…"

"WE FOUND A TITAN!" she cheered, pointing off in a seemingly random direction. Ruby and Nora quickly ran off to where they had pointed, while Ren just sighed and followed his partner. Rosaline smiled at the display and closed her cockpit, activating the Titan's movement gyro's and de-activating the combat systems so it wouldn't automatically bring up the chaingun. She reached down and picked up Jaune in its massive grips, laughing loudly when he cried out in surprise and flailed his arms around randomly. She began walking through the forest after the others, being able to easily catch up to them thanks to the fact that the mech could cover about two metres with each step of its walking speed.

After about thirty seconds of walking, the came across another crash site and Rosaline saw just what they were so excited about. Sitting in a small impact crater in the middle of a clearing, was a Titan, a massive Rifle sitting off to the side as while a small energy capsule within the gun was spinning slowly with a dull light. The first thing that Rosaline noticed was that this Titan was that it was never shown during any of the briefings that were shown during training. She was sure that her superiors would have been sure to include any knowledge they had on Militia Titans, even if they were just rumours, but she hadn't even heard of ANYTHING like this. The actual Titan was coloured a pale white with dark highlights around the cockpit and the viewport with dull tan skulls underneath the optics, with the same L jointed legs as an Atlas, while the armour was far more angular than anything else she'd seen.

She could see a small multi-jointed, back-mounted arm with a small box that looked like it would shoot something, as well as a larger protrusion on its left arm, along the lines of a smaller version of the Vortex Shield that was on Sid's arm. It didn't appear to be damaged in any way, mostly because Titans were developed to survive high-impact crashes, which is why they were dropped in from orbit most of the time, but something seemed off about this one.

Rosaline put down Jaune and moved Sid forward, carefully leaning down to the Titan and carefully tapping on the cockpit, hoping that if there was a person inside, that they would make themselves known. Thankfully, or sadly depending on how you look at it, when the cockpit bolts unlocked and the main door came down, there was no Pilot inside and the main cabin looked fairly un-used.

Ruby was the first to run forward, jumping inside and happily pressing just about every button she could get her hands on, only managing to go through the start-up sequence by complete luck. She nearly had a heart-attack when the Titan's core whirred to life and a loud hum reverberated from its back, the servo's in its legs and arms whirring to life while the massive mech made an effort to right itself. Ruby quickly sped out of the cockpit before it could close on her and hid behind Sid, much like the rest of her team were doing. Rosaline quickly brought the combat systems online and pulled the chaingun off Sid's back, linking it to the mech's reticule and taking aim at the new Titan.

It was a bit chunky with the way it moved, the servos probably filled with dust and grime, but it took no time in standing up straight, moving over and picking up its rifle after it finished, then turned to face the team. It stood like that for a few seconds before it whirred and went down onto one knee, opening the cockpit and stopping moving afterwards. Rosaline eyed it cautiously and opened up her own Titan's door, jumping down to the ground and hesitantly moving forward. She took our one of her pistols, even though she knew it wouldn't do much, then jumped up into the newer Titan's cockpit.

She activated the secondary phase of activation and the mech stood back up again, the cockpit door closing and the inside of the massive mech was plunged into darkness. Rosaline knew this was a completely normal procedure, although it still didn't do anything to quell her nerves, making her hit her head on the top of the capsule when the OS voice came through the inbuilt speakers.

 **"** ** _State Designation and Rank…"_**

"Ummm… Rosaline, recruit rank Pilot" she said, not sure how she was supposed to respond.

 ** _"_** ** _Pilot not listed within current database… please update before continuing"_**

She swore slightly as she tried to by-pass the system, until she remembered something that Demon told her to do in-case she ever did meet any other Militia.

"Pilot designation Delta Echo Alpha, authorisation code 22935567"

 ** _"_** ** _Authorisation code accepted… beginning system calibration"_**

Several lights began strobing on the screen in front of her and the optics re-activated, giving her a view of what was going on outside, seeing the rest of her team still huddled behind Sid. She quickly took manual control of the arms and gave a thumbs-up with the mech's left hand, seeing RNJR visibly relaxing from the action.

 ** _"_** ** _Warning – no compatible Pilot interface detected : please connect now"_**

Now this was the part which she was truly stuck at… she didn't have this problem with any of Demon's Titans and she was never told that this would actually happen at all.

"Ummm… shit" she muttered, seeing exactly what it was talking about when she realised that she had only ever seen Pilot's going into their Titans with their special helmets on, vaguely remembering something about 'links' whenever she was told about how Pilots controlled their Titans. She cancelled the calibration and popped open the cockpit, jumping down to the ground and going back over to the others.

"Well, it looks like we've got another Titan to add to the collection" she said, both Ruby and Nora cheerily instantly and pumping their fists into the air while jumping around. "But, it looks like we're going to need to get a Pilot's helmet to actually use it manually"

They both pouted at this but then instantly went back to their happy mood when they began talking viciously as to what they were going to name it, dragging a very reluctant Ren into the conversation as well. As they did, Jaune hesitantly came over to her with a more mellow face set in.

"Wan't that guy that we ummm *cough* saved from the Beowolf a Pilot? He was wearing the armour that Demon came here in, but I wasn't exactly sure"

Rosaline paled significantly and looked back to the crash site, sighing heavily and took out both her pistols as she began walking off.

"If I don't come back, it's either because the Grimm got me, or I'm spending a good hour or so getting re-acquainted with my lunch" she mumbled so that he could just barely hear her, trying not to think about her task at hand… she didn't exactly want to see the poor man's guts again, even less so having to actually step near them to get his helmet… but then again, she didn't want to have a useless Titan travelling along with them when none of them could even figure out how to change the systems without accidentally breaking it.

 _This… is going to suck…_


	8. A Bell ringing for War

**As it turns out, I'm having hellova time with my FanFiction account because it's not sending out any notification emails for Reviews or even Chapter release updates, which I'm kinda confused as to why the hell it's happening...**

 **But I refuse to let this stop me and I have scraped together another story chapter for ye loyal fans or those who are new to the unfolding story of the Angels and Demons**

 **As always, please leave a Review or PM me so that I know if I'm doing well with my chapters or not...**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 8:

"You do realize the problem with this plan?" spoke the very skeptical voice of Weiss Schnee, a hushed speech somewhere in between a shout and whisper.

"There's just one?" Demon countered, earning a sigh from the Schnee and a kick in the shin from Neo who was sitting next to him. The three of them were sitting calmly on the open deck of a medium sized boat setting its sails for Menagerie, the same boat that Blake had apparently traveled on as well. After Neo's tip-off about a captain who had apparently seen her, Demon confirmed the fact after finding the only ship that was actually keen enough to sail in these times where they couldn't even call for help thanks to the CCT network being cut down.

They had bought tickets on one of the less booked trips where it was almost only them and one other guy who had travelled with them, although they never did meet the supposed other person who was with them. It took almost the entire trip for Demon to recover from the 'special' way Weiss dealt with his explanation of why Neo was here, namely, a knee to his nether regions. The stupid thing was that she accepted his explanation but did it anyway… he never would understand women. The two weren't exactly on the best of terms but they were no longer trying to kill eachother which was good.

The main topic of the conversation that they were having now, was on exactly what would happen when they got to Menagerie… something Demon honestly hadn't thought of until now. He'd thought it would take a LOT longer to break into the SDC headquarters, so he'd figured he could just come up with it afterwards… which he did, but it wasn't exactly that well thought through.

"I was referring to the one factor you didn't take into account during your plan…" Weiss argued, crossing her arms while fixing him with another one of her signature death-stares. Demon had forgone his usual armour thanks to the fact that the White Fang's presence here was a hell of a lot more thanks to it being an island populated almost entirely of faunus and that they had all been briefed to kill him on sight.

He wore a baggy pair of khaki pants and a regular black t-shirt, a pair of sunglasses and a scarf covering his head, his hair tied up into a warrior's braid. He had opted to leave on his left gauntlet as it contained most of his stuff and had his network hacking devises, as well as the fact that he could hide his knife on the underside so it wouldn't be flashed around wherever he walked. Another spare knife was kept strapped to his shin, as well as his Wingman on the opposite leg, while he'd also made sure to bring Wilt, the blade being wrapped in black linen and strapped to his back.

Neo had decided to disguise herself as well, being that she had worked with the White Fang for some time as well, so she had brought along a bunch of clothes she had used to disguise herself during the Vytal Festival, having 'twin tails' as she called them as well as having an almost completely different outfit.

Weiss on the other hand… well, she didn't really think to bring any other clothes than the ones she needed. So, it wasn't exactly going to turn out well at all considering they'd need to try and hide the fact that she is a Schnee from an entire island of faunus.

"You could always dye your hair?" Demon suggested, earning an even more threatening scowl… apparently, Weiss was almost as fond of her hair as Yang. "Well, other than that, we need a serious wardrobe change and we've got nothing to work with… so there's only one option"

He looked to Neo who got the general gist, focusing hard for a moment before blinking a couple of times and nodding to say that it was done. When they looked back to Weiss… it wasn't a Schnee that they were looking at now. Neo had managed to cast an illusion that made her look a little like Ruby to be honest, with a black combat skirt, full-length black stockings while she kept her white boots. Her hair was pulled out of its typical ponytail and was covering one of her eyes, a few specks of white colouring at the edges of her hairs that went down to just above her chest. Her body was covered in a black sleeveless jacket that left her arms exposed, the same pale skin they had come to expect from her.

"Well, I think that solves the problem" he said while clapping his hands together, getting up off the seat and walking over to the railing, trying to see just how far from the island they were.

"What do you mean, 'solves the problem!'" Weiss cried, almost jumping out of her skin when she looked down at herself. She quickly went to the nearest mirror-like surface, which so happened to be one of the portholes, then began looking herself over. She took a minute or so to look over the finer details of her clothing but eventually came back with a small smile on her face and thanked Neo. "There is still the issue of your terrible plan…" she remembered, still not liking the amount of time he put into its formulation.

"Well, it's simple enough… we stay around for some time, see what we can hear or find out, then when we see her we go check it out and then convince her to come back"

"You really think she's going to want to come back?"

"You did!"

"I wanted to come back, I didn't really have a choice when I left… she decided to leave Vale behind…"

"Well then, we'll make sure she has a reason to come back… it can't be that hard!"

"This is Blake we're talking about… it took me nearly two weeks before I actually had a conversation with her that lasted for more than four seconds"

Demon tried to come up with an argument against it, realising a startling fact in the process as well. He had only ever really talked to Blake for what would probably accumulate for a total of five minutes. Whenever he'd talked to her, it was either on school break where he'd just ask what she was doing, or ask whether she was coming to lunch with the rest of them. The longest he'd ever talked to her was when he asked for any book suggestions she could give and she went into a rather lengthy rant on what type he'd want… and then again, it was Blake's version of lengthy.

"Ummm… we'll burn that bridge when we come to it"

"I'm pretty sure it's 'cross that bridge' when we come to it" she corrected, earning a laugh from Demon. He didn't reply as the boat began its docking procedures and the trio made their way to the bottom decks where the gang plank was being put down. Waiting for the on the lowest deck was Cerberus, the bike being tied down to stop it from moving around, which was quickly righted as one of the deck hands ripped them off.

"Why did you bring that death-trap?" Weiss questioned, not at all remembering if they had actually put it on the boat. Demon, in truth, brought it along because he needed something to carry his gear, which was currently stuffed inside a satchel on the back of the bike.

"I'm not leaving my baby behind!" defended Demon, going over and beginning to wheel the motorcycle down the gangplank, the other two following close behind. He swore that Weiss almost had a heart attack when she saw the sheer number of faunus that were walking around the docks, as well as the quaint and lively markets that was just off the sea-port. Neo skipped happily along and jumped on Cerberus while Demon wheeled it over to one of the massive dry-docks that dotted the port, walking straight towards a man who was laying back happily on one of the walls with a pipe in his mouth and an eye-patch over his left eye, a navy trench-coat covering his body. A few scales covered his cheeks.

"I take it you know your way around here?" asked Demon when the man finally saw him coming over. The man let out a small smile and took a long drag from his pipe before replying, having a rather funny accent that Demon almost laughed at, his accent making him sound like a pirate.

"Aye lad, I gat a bitta mor' brain's t'an ya on de place"

"I was wondering if you could direct me to a spare warehouse, I need a place to stay while I'm here and I'm a bit short on lien" Demon questioned, stopping a few feet away from the man while he cracked an even bigger smile.

"I reckon I hav' da ri'te one ere!"

The guy took a moment to kick off the wall and stand straight, pulling a cane out of nowhere and using it to walk along the docks, beckoning the others to follow. Neo happily skipped off after him, while Demon turned to see Weiss looking far from her comfort zone and consciously stepping away from anyone else that happened to walk by.

"You do realise no one else is going to recognise you…" he consoled, Weiss flinching significantly when she realised he was talking to her.

"I know… it's just that I don't exactly know how… well, um 'safe' this place is"

"Well it's going to be a hell of a lot worse if you look shift and everything"

"I can't exactly help it!"

"Well you better pull your shit together because you can't exactly walk around like someone's trying to kill you every second!"

"THEY WOULD BE IF THEY KNEW WHO I WAS!" she whisper-shouted, drawing the attention of a few of the passer-byes. She quieted down and took a deep breath, turning her head up and walking off after Neo, leaving Demon to sigh and follow while wheeling Cerberus along. They walked for a while until the guy stopped in front of an old-looking dry-dock that was boarded up and looked just about ready to fall down.

He reached up with the end of his cane and hit down one of the boards, kicking the door in afterwards and stepping to the side as birds squawked and flew out in panic, knocking a few more boards down in the process. He gestured inside, ignoring the look of extreme scepticism that Weiss gave, smiling to himself in self-assurance.

"I'm not exactly complaining, but how long ago was this last opened?" Demon asked, putting the stock up on his bike and walking to inspect the insides.

"I ain't git anae idea 'bout dat…"

"Well, thanks then, I should probably pay you a bit for your services"

He took out a twenty lien note and the sailor happily tipped his hat and stuffed the money in his coat, walking back to where he was before and resting back against the same wall, puffing on his pipe contently. With a slight hesitation, Demon took out a torch from the satchel on Cerberus and walked inside, seeing just what they had to work with… and was (unsurprisingly) underwhelmed, even from the look on the outside.

The small dry-dock had a small fishing boat, that had a massive hole in the hull, sitting on the struts, while two catwalks ran along both sides to an area behind the boat where a large number of crates and fish nets were stacked haphazardly around. The catwalks were made of wood that was rotted apart from a few boards and he doubted if he'd even be able to get Cerberus across, while the area at the back was at least concreted, which lifted his hope a tiny bit.

"Looks like we're going to be roughing it until we find Blake…" Demon announced as he came back out, getting slapped immediately across the face by both girls as they heard him.

"We are NOT sleeping in there!" Weiss argued, not noticing that she had actually included Neo for the first time. The ice-cream assassin actually agreed and both of them stared at him, boring holes into his head with their death stares.

"What is it with women and death stares these days!" … *continues death stare* "FINE! I'll pay for a hotel or something…"

Weiss huffed and cut her stare, Neo nodding in agreement and jumping back onto Cerberus as Demon tried to wheel it into the dry dock. Several cracked floorboards later and he'd managed to wheel it through to the back of the dock without it falling through completely and the trio was now on the job of trying to find a place to stay while they were here. They got a few weird looks thanks to their clothing but they were otherwise unnoticed as they made their way through the town, Weiss continuously shuffled nervously away whenever someone came too close, much to Demon's chagrin, all the way up until they arrived at the place they would be staying at.

"Here we are… the Smiling Beo!" Demon announced, stopping in front of the building. The other two stopped next to him as well… and his ears were nearly broken from Weiss' shout.

"WE ARE NOT STAYING HERE!" she screamed, right into his ear, something that no-one else seemed to notice.

"What's wrong with it!" he countered, gesturing to where they were. It was a relatively small building in terms of the buildings that were in Vale but it was definitely more rustic than anything they'd seen back there. It resembled something he'd expect from Japan or something like that, with large, thin sliding doors and flayed tiling on the roof's, small windows showing the inside of the building, which revealed that the ground floor was a bar by the looks of it, while a sign outside let them know that it also had beds for rent.

"Well for one, it looks like a place that would attract… Yang-like people"

"Is that the best excuse you have?"

"Plus, I doubt it'll have three separate rooms because I am not sleeping with you or the assassin"

 **[Three minutes later]**

"… and here are your room keys for the three single rooms" the clerk at the desk happily chimed, handing over three keyrings to Demon who happily took them, tipped her, then walked back to the other two who were sitting at a table at the edges of the bar, as far away as Weiss could possibly get.

"What were you saying Snow Angel?" he jeered as he slammed the keys on the table as well as two beers, one with a scoop of ice-cream, and a glass of water, the former being for him and Neo, while Weiss voted to continue her trend of innocence and take some water. Said girl huffed in response to his antics and took the water, inspecting it as though it might have poison in it, then took a small sip to test.

"Now that we have a place to stay, how are we going to start finding Blake?" Weiss questioned, continuing to lazily sip her drink.

"Weiss, we are literally in a bar… info gathering 101, everyone knows everything at a bar…"

"That's not true!"

"Fine then… I'll go and find out where Blake is while you sit here and hope some random doesn't notice you and sick the whole island on you"

"That'd be a good plan… if it wasn't already sun-down!" she pointed out, Demon turning to see that the street outside.

"You do realise that's when the bar just gets started?" countered the Pilot, seeing Weiss face-palm before mumbling something and taking her keys and walking off up the stairs to the next level. With a sigh, Demon pulled his scarf down and began drinking his beer, managing to rid the entire cup of the liquid after a few minutes of silent drinking, Neo sipping her own brew as she stared at something out the window.

Once he was finished, Demon took his own room's keys and shoved them in his pocket, taking out his wallet in the process and looking at the meagre amount of cash he had left after buying the drinks and rooms for three nights. He took out a few bills and passed them off to Neo, who could only stare at the money as he held it out.

"What's wrong, never been handed money before?" he joked, his eyes going wide when she actually nodded to the question, looking down sullenly into her half-finished drink. "Oh… I'm sorry"

She smiled to him and took another sip from her drink, still not taking the money.

"Well, consider this your first legitimate allowance… this money is 100% yours and you don't have to spend it on anything you don't want to, go and buy whatever you want!"

Neo's own eyes went wide and hesitantly took the small wad of cash, looking through it and feeling it as though it was the first time she'd ever touched money. With a slight tear in her eye, she happily jumped up and hugged him before quickly running off out of the club and out into the night of Menagerie, without so much as leaving a note to say what she was doing.

Demon took the initiative and drank the rest of her beer before handing all of the glasses back to the bartender and looking around the bar for someone who looked well informed… before he set his eyes on something that brought him back into sudden reality. A few male faunus were sitting up the back, hidden by a broken light, with a very recognisable symbol on their clothes… that of the White Fang. He became tense for a second before remembering that he'd changed his get-up for the exact reason that they'd be here, but he was more worried for Neo. Cinder might have ratted out her past accomplice and provided photos of her tournament get-up so that she could be hunted down as well.

He dismissed the thought and casually ordered another drink, taking it and walking nonchalantly over to a table near the White Fang grunts while trying to listen in to their conversation. No thanks to the obnoxious noise from the other patrons, he couldn't make out half of the words that were said, cursing even more when the topic they were on was just chit-chat and nothing that would actually interest him. He was just about to consider getting up and leaving until a young woman came along, sitting next to the grunts and drawing all their gazes.

She didn't look any older than him in any way, yet she definitely held an air of authority around her and the Grunt's conversation dulled while she was there. She wore a black, plum and navy coloured stealth suit that was sleeveless and stopped at the centre of her thighs at the legs. Gold zippers covered the suit that was anything but skin-tight, her feet covered in heavy combat boots that didn't at all seem to fit in with the rest of her outfit.

Her brown hair was tied back in a curled pony-tail while he eyes were a light greyish-blue tint. The one thing that she didn't seem to have was any faunus traits, which he definitely found weird, until he saw small patches of scales dotted around her tan skin that he guessed were from a reptile of some kind. One thing he definitely found weird was that none of them were wearing any masks or anything and were flaunting their allegiance to the terrorist ground without any repercussions, no-one else at the bar seeming to care at all.

He reached up to his ear with his gauntlet and activated its in-built microphone, hoping to pick out exactly what was being discussed, hoping to do so without suspicion. He picked out what was being said through the din of bar and smiled to himself when he heard what they were saying.

"… so you managed to confirm this?" came the hushed and slightly course voice from the young woman, directed straight at one of the men, who seemed to wither under her gaze.

"I don't know ma'am, we were told to stake out the house until she showed but we haven't seen her come out yet…"

"So you just left!"

"It's night time, I doubt she'd even do anything, she thinks she's safe right now so she isn't leaving anytime soon"

"You idiots… at least have the gall to report back to HQ to report your failure…" she hissed, standing up and beginning to leave. "Inform the boss that I'm heading to the Belladonna's household to complete what you have failed to… don't fail us yet again!"

She turned quickly and took out a mask, placing it over her face and strutting out of the bar, Demon quickly chugging down the rest of his drink and following her out as inconspicuously as he could. When he got outside, he swore to himself when he couldn't find her on the street at all, no-one looking anything vaguely like the girl he'd seen, yet when he looked up, he saw a dark shadow jumping stealthily from tree-to-tree.

He smiled to himself and began following them from the street, running as fast as he could without drawing any attention to himself, before he reached an area where there weren't as many people around. There was one thing that Pilots were trained for that they had to excel in to prove efficient at all… parkour. And Demon was no exception as he ran up the wall of the nearest house, grabbing onto the overhang before gravity could pull him down to the ground, pulling himself up and onto the roof in one smooth motion.

After he was solidly on the roof, he looked around to try and find where the girl had run off to, catching a few trees shaking slightly in a line away from the house. He smiled to himself when he saw a shadow jumping between the natural towers and began to chase after her. He regretted not bringing his Parkour Kit or at least having his grappling hooks, but then again, there was a hell of a lot more parkour options he had open to him if he only used Aura. One reason he hadn't tried to use his aura to boost his maneuverability is because his Parkour Kit would be extremely tripped out by the inhuman levels of speed and agility that aura allowed for… but now he wasn't held down.

Charging a small amount of aura into his legs, using a technique that Yang had told him about, he jumped up from the house and grabbed hold of the nearest tree with his gauntleted fist, the claws on the fingers allowing him to dig into the wood with ease. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't exactly as nimble or light as the girl he was tracking and the tree began to bend under his weight. Quickly charging more energy into his legs, he began jumping from tree to tree, kicking off the second he touched it so that he wouldn't have to hold on, making for a reasonable jumping technique.

It wasn't long before he was a short distance from the trees shaking ahead of him and he quickly slowed down his approach, grabbing onto the nearest tree with his gauntlet and cutting his momentum… as well as the tree. He fell to the ground, a small cry of surprise being muffled by the scarf over his mouth, managing to land on his feet and smiling to himself at his luck… that was, until he looked up and remembered that there was a tree falling down.

With a small creaking noise, the massive trunk sailed through the air towards the ground and Demon held up his arms, preparing for the weight and trying to ready himself. His efforts were met with some success as the trunk landed perfectly in his arms and caused his limbs to buckle slightly under the weight, not breaking them or even damaging them. He held it there for a few moments, reveling at how easy it was to hold it up… until he began feeling the weight and bent his knees until he was close enough to the ground so that he could place it down without too much of a noise.

Almost as soon as he placed it down, the girl he was tracking came to a stop outside a house and Demon's face blanched. It was the largest house on the entire island and he didn't even need to look around to see that it was the centre of the town and, if the girl's words were anything to go off, it was definitely Blake's. He carefully crouched low and began slowly making his way towards the girl's position, right up until he was right underneath her hiding place, sure that she hadn't seen him yet. He was just about to jump up and question her before he watched as her skin suddenly shifted colour to be as black as the night surrounding her while he heard a commotion come from the house.

 _Chameleon huh… two can play at that game…_

He quickly tapped one of the control buttons on his gauntlet and the cloaking module he brought with him activated, coating his body and making him near impossible to see. Albeit, the cloaking wasn't as effective as when he'd have his armour or Pilot gear, it was still effective and combined with the fact that it was already sun-down, he bet that his cloaking was better than the girl's chameleon skills.

As he waited, his attention was drawn to the house where he heard a massive slap. When he turned to see who it was and was relieved to see it was Blake slapping the monkey faunus he'd seen a couple of times around the campus, mainly at the dance. Blake was wearing a new outfit that he swore was something Yang would design and he conceded that she was at least not wearing her bow anymore. He stifled a laugh and waited out the performance, mainly of Blake giving shit to Sun until the cat faunus knocked a scroll from Sun's hand and sent it flying into the trees… straight into the chameleon faunus above him. The girl above him hissed in pain as it impacted her and both Sun and Blake turned to look at the sound, their eyes narrowing as they managed to glimpse his target in her hiding spot.

She also seemed to come to this revelation as Blake shouted 'a spy!' and the chameleon faunus jumped off from tree to tree again, Blake running to the edge of her porch and jumped off after her. Demon watched as another woman who looked exceedingly similar to Blake came out holding a tray of tea cups and pot, Sun saying a quick few words before jumping off after the cat faunus and leaving the other woman standing there in confusion.

Demon sighed to himself and jumped back up into the tree canopy, seeing the white of Blake's outfit flittering through the trees ahead of him, as well as the usual yellow blur from Sun. With another aura-charged tyrade, he began jumping from tree to tree as fast as he could, de-activating his cloaking to save power, while still ensuring that he was trailing far enough behind that his three targets wouldn't notice him. The three in front of him finally veered out of the tree canopy and began running along rooftops, something which Demon smiled at as he followed them onto the roof's, ensuring that he was far enough behind so that they wouldn't notice, a recurring theme with his tracking.

His quarries stopped two rooftops ahead and he quickly activated his cloaking so that they wouldn't catch him, stopping stock still so he would just appear as a slight shimmer. The spy he'd be originally tracking had turned to face Blake, slicing a coolant pipe using some strange whip-sword weapon, the cat faunus simply diving through the mist and hissing at the spy.

"Why were you watching me?" she hissed, the chameleon faunus not bothering to respond as the two stared down one another. Just as he was about to move in to get a better vantage point, Sun had the great idea of flanking her… only to have to trip back to avoid a whip strike from her weapon. Blake took advantage of the distraction and kicked a scroll from the spy's hand, Demon almost thinking to shout out in annoyance for such an idiotic move on the spy's part.

Granted, she did retaliate and kick Blake back a short distance and was about to retrieve the scroll, she was stopped when she forgot about Sun and was tackled to the ground, a knee keeping her body down while he held her arms in place. After what happened next, Demon vowed to at least teach a couple of people he knew about restraining holds, meaning that they wouldn't be headbutted in the face and kicked off the next time they tried to hold down someone who was literally half their size.

The spy was about to jump over to reach for the scroll again… until Sun sent four bright yellow clones and tackled her to the floor, yelling for Blake to take the scroll.

 _Hmmm… that's new_

Said cat faunus finally took the initiative and grabbed the scroll, just as Sun's aura ran out and his clones collapsed, releasing the spy from her prison for the second time.

 _Is it seriously that hard to keep down someone for MORE than five seconds?_

"Watch out!" called the monkey faunus, Blake turning to see the spy hold up her weapons once again, bearing witness to the White Fang mask crumbling off after so much punishment, revealing the spy's face to the open.

"Ilia…" muttered Blake as the two faunus stared down once again. Now, he knew exactly what was going to happen. With both Blake and Sun unarmed and no dust for Blake to use for an offensive assault, the spy could blitz through them both without much effort… unless he had anything to say about it. He began sprinting as fast as he possibly could, watching as Sun stood up and briefly remarked about how they must know each other.

 _Seriously, is he saying it for himself or something?_

He parkoured over the broken coolant pipe and jumped the last few feet until he was just to the side of Sun, right as Ilia cracked a wicked strike with her whip, right at the guy's heart. With an almost practiced ease, Demon reached out and grabbed the whip, stopping it an inch from Sun's chest, leaving the other three staring at the frozen whip like there was a ghost… then he realised he still had his cloaking on.

Deciding to be a bit more dramatic than he needed to be, he de-activated his cloaking, not moving from where he stood, turning to the spy with a slow turn.

"Attacking an unarmed citizen of your own species? I didn't think the Fang could lower the bar any more, but I stand corrected!"

Ilia growled with annoyance and her skin turned a dark red as she pulsed electricity through her whip, hoping to break his grip. Demon, on the other hand, almost laughed. He had made sure that when he had his armour repaired by Ivan that he installed even more preposterous passive systems to give him an edge, one such being a coating that conducted electricity so well that it could be re-directed straight towards the small reactor in his back, but without that there to stop it, his left gauntlet began sparking with its own electrical charge as it refused to go anywhere.

He grimaced as the electricity shocked his body and practically burned his arm with its intensity although he still refused to drop it as that would mean she would have her weapon back. He pushed through the pain and practically slammed the whip into the ground, standing on it with his foot before taking out his knife and stabbing it between the links of the whip, far enough into the roof that it wouldn't move.

"Thanks for the shock…" he muttered as he neared, the faunus in front of him scowling as he moved closer. She made the first move and struck out with a left hook, hoping to catch him off-guard, but all he did was dive under it and upper-cut her jaw for the effort. The electricity stored within his gauntlet shocked her as the punch connected and she was hit back until she was almost sliding off the side of the building, Demon having enough of a heart to grab her leg before she fell off the side.

Before she could right herself again, he punched her in the face with an open palm, knocking her out cold as her head impacted the metal roof, a small crack appearing in the cement. Demon lifted her up and inspected his work, carefully placing her over his back limply and turning around to face the other two faunus.

"Hello again Blake!" he said happily as recognition finally formed in the kitty's mind, not putting together the pieces until she got a good look at his gauntlet.

"Demon?" she queried, not exactly sure if her guess was correct, until he nodded happily.

"Now, you don't have to slap me in the face any more than the last person because Kira and Weiss already took care of that…"

Well, Demon had to admit, she did listen to him… although it wasn't exactly in the way he wanted. A tear fell from her eye and she marched forward… and kicked him in the groin. He collapsed to the ground groaning and holding between his legs, dropping the chameleon faunus as he did, muttering obscenities under his breath.

"WHY DOES AURA NOT PROTECT AGAINST THIS!" he shouted, rolling around in pain as Blake glared down at him with an evil stare.

"I don't know man, but it gets annoying sometimes…" Sun replied nonchalantly, "although I have to ask… aren't you, you know, supposed to be dead and all?"

"Does it look like it!"

"What are you doing here!" hissed Blake, still standing over him with the same enraged glare.

"Not some thanks or anything? Is this going to be the same thing as when I first met Yang?"

She sighed heavily and helped him up, bringing him into an embrace before quickly stepping back to look at him.

"You certainly have changed…" she commented, gesturing to his outfit.

"Nah, this is just my weekend get-up, I've got the rest of the armour back with the others"

"The others?"

"Weiss and Neo…" Demon replied non-chalantly, using the spare time to walk back over and rip his knife from the ground, picking up Ilia's weapon as well, clipping it to the side of his belt like a sword.

"WEISS!" she hissed, eyes going wide "you got her to come here!"

"Technically, she was heading to Mistral but I just took her on a little detour" he replied, not wanting to dwell on the fact that she'd ignored Neo.

"Menagerie is a detour?"

"In truth, I'm here because we need team RWBY back together…" he admitted, seeing Blake visibly flinch, turning away slightly as she gritted her teeth.

"I came here because I'm done fighting… I'm done with the White Fang, I'm done with everything!"

"Well then, if you mean that, then I'm out…" Demon said immediately, dropping Ilia's whip and walking off to the edge of the roof. He knew exactly what Blake was doing right now and he knew it all too well. He'd had several of his troops nearly give up during their first ever real battle when the realisation of what they were doing finally hit them. He wasn't exactly one to stop and pause to try and comfort them until the sucked it up and stopped fighting altogether, so he always told them the harsh reality.

If they didn't want to fight, then he let them… if they didn't want to kill for their cause, then they didn't need to… all they needed to know was that the enemy they fought wasn't going to know that and that they treated each soldier the same when they gave up, with a bullet to the brain and a body bag. After they finally realised that once they'd committed themselves, there was simply no simple way out… walking away wasn't an option.

So, when he heard Blake go into the same self-denial, he knew that trying to comfort her and sugar-coat everything would just make her consider herself in the right, when all it was doing was putting her friends at risk more than she knew it.

"Where are you going!" she almost shouted, making Demon turn and smiled.

"I thought you were done with everything… I came here to take back someone who would fight with me to take down Cinder and the one's responsible for the slaughter at Beacon… so, I'm going to go find someone who'll understand what's going on"

He was just about to jump down and head back to the bar, never intending to go that far… then smiled slightly when Blake quickly rushing to stop him.

"WAIT!" she nearly shouted, a slight look of desperation crossing her features as she held out her arm to stop him.

"Yes?" he replied, facing her with a slight smirk. She hissed a tiny bit when she realised what he'd done but didn't back down, a new look of determination coming on.

"I don't exactly know why there was a White Fang spy after me, so how about we see what we can get out of her and then I'll think about it…" she conceded, Sun's jaw dropping as he turned to Demon.

"Seriously! You got her to agree to that in like ten seconds when I've been here for days trying to do that!"

"She was too focused on your abs to listen…" teased Demon, getting hit in the side of the head by a furious Blake. He smiled to himself and picked the whip back up again, ensuring to pick up Ilia's unconscious body and slinging it back over his shoulder. The trio jumped down from the roof and began walking back to the Belladonna household, Blake not noticing the two guys fist-bump while she wasn't looking. Just as they were about to walk in, Blake suddenly turned to Demon and grabbed him by the collar.

"Did you say Neo?" she hissed, for what seemed like the thirtieth time that night, referring to their previous conversation. Said Pilot shied back a bit and chuckled nervously, remembering how this exact conversation went down with Weiss.

"Hehehehe… about that… it's a long story…"


	9. One-armed Cliffhanger

**And here I go with another rant about 'being sorry' and all that jazz but to cut it down, assignments are shit and I don't have any spare time, especially since I'm travelling to the states soon so my work is backed up straight to the doors of hell because I have to do everything two weeks early**

 **Now, PLEASE, I live off reviews and I'm running short on my life-blood so I might not live much longer my friends... PM or Review if you want to suggest anything or send an OC request, I'm open to suggestions and characters**

 **To reply to some reviews and give an update:**

 **1\. It looks like the Demon x Rosaline x Neo love-triangle thing is going to happen because I've gotten a few more messages FOR rather than against.**

 **2\. Million Arthur the Yuri King, you can thank my friend for that idea, although he did suggest it by accident considering Tempest is his character, although I do have to worry about your links to Sheogorath if you proclaim your love of cheese so much...**

 **3\. I'm giving out a cookie to anyone who gets the references in any chapters, just review and a digital cookie will be sent within the next working week... I promise! (With as much confidence as Roman saying that Neo's Neo is DEFINITELY not poison!)**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 9:

"What's this all about!" came a deep and grumbling voice as Demon was held by the collar outside of Blake's house, the Pilot thanking whoever was watching over for saving him from the wrath of the kitten. When he turned to see where the voice was coming from, he heard a series of booming footsteps before the front door was almost slammed open and a mountain of a man busted through with an enraged expression, until he set eyes on Blake and seemed to calm down.

He was wearing a thick purple garb that left his chest exposed, as well as a massive tuft of chest hair, while Demon was surprised to actually see pieces of armour on someone for once. One thing he did notice was that he wasn't exactly a faunus, although he couldn't be too sure, although given the sheer size of the guy, he wouldn't be surprised if he was part bear or something.

"Thank the gods, you're safe!" he proclaimed, grabbing her and pulling her close as he calmed down, another voice coming from inside the house not a moment after.

"Are they back!" questioned a fearful and worried voice from behind him, the same woman he saw on their porch coming and quickly running to hug Blake again when she saw her.

"I'm guessing parents?" Demon muttered to Sun, getting a nod a second later.

"Yeah… her dad doesn't really like me…" mumbled back the monkey faunus, shifting uncomfortably.

"I wonder why?" Demon answered sarcastically, something the faunus didn't pick up on.

"I KNOW! He just started giving me these weird looks the moment I started talking!"

"Well there's your problem…" Demon muttered to himself, knowing that even a faunus wouldn't be able to hear thanks to the scarf over his mouth. Before he could continue, he was suddenly face-to-face with the source of Sun's troubles and they didn't look too happy with the fact that Demon currently had an unconscious faunus over his shoulder.

"Ummmm… hello?" he started, trying to break the silence, only succeeding in receiving a huff of annoyance from the man.

"I see you brought another one Blake…" he noted, not bothering to answer the Pilot or even acknowledge his existence past the brief note in his speech "I really can't handle TWO Sun's…"

"He's a friend from Beacon…"

"So, why does he have someone slung over his shoulder?"

Before she could reply, Demon decided to bear the weight on his shoulders (pun intended) and answered for her.

"Well, the girl sitting on my shoulders is a White Fang operative who decided it would be a great idea to spy on your household and report to her leader as to whether or not your daughter was here… which she did find out and would have gotten away if we hadn't found her and made sure she couldn't tattle to her boss"

"So you killed her!" Mrs Belladonna cried in shock, not quite grasping the difference between a dead body and an unconscious person.

"No, I just knocked her out after stopping Sun here from getting a knife-whip to the chest"

The woman seemed to calm down at this, although her husband didn't exactly change his pissed-off expression.

"And you just happened to come across the fight?"

"Well… ever heard of the quote 'to spy on a spy is the true test of competence'…" Demon replied calmly, shifting the girl on his shoulder as she snored in her unconsciousness. "Could I put her somewhere, I can't really hold her up for much longer"

"Your chaingun weighs more than her…" Blake replied nonchalantly.

"But I have to ask, do you seriously want more people to see some guy carry a girl slumped over his shoulder into your house?" Demon countered, poking a finger over his back to a bunch of faunus villagers who were poking their heads out of their houses after the commotion of the fight. The Belladonna's both seemed to now understand just how exposed they were and quickly ushered everyone inside, shutting the door behind them and pointing Demon to one of the side-rooms where he set down Ilia on a couch that didn't look like it was being used.

When he dumped her down, he turned around to see Blake and her parents standing there, the former two tapping their feet expectantly, while the last one still looked concerned.

"I think I should probably introduce myself… I'm Demon, late entrant to Beacon academy and I'm officially dead!" he said, seeing Blake look as though the only thing she wanted to do was slap him across the face, while her parent's eyebrows both raised in confusion and interest.

"You're… dead?" Mrs Belladonna said slowly, earning a nod from Demon "well, I'm just going to go grab a couple of things, I have a feeling that this is going to be a long talk… you don't mind tea do you?"

"That'd be great" responded the Pilot, taking a seat as he moved Ilia's legs to clear some room, while the two remaining Belladonna's sat down on the opposing couch, while Sun just leant against a wall at the back of the room.

"As for introductions, I am Ghira Belladonna and the woman you just met is my wife Kali… as for you, I'm not quite sure I heard you correctly when you said you're technically dead?"

"I was going to explain it to Blake but I think it'll be best to hit two birds with one stone then… well, as you probably know, Beacon was attacked by White Fang and the Grimm were led into the city, so I was on the front lines at the academy to ensure the evacuation efforts went well, although it soon went to hell when a herd of Goliaths and a Grimm Dragon showed up to crash the party…"

"A Grimm Dragon!" remarked Ghira, his eyes going wide "how are they ever going to be able to re-take the academy while it's still there!"

"Who said it was? After I crashed an Atlesian cruiser straight into the bugger, I went after one of Blake's team-mates, my sister, and was shot a couple of times before I was able to be evac-ed by my Uncle and Ozpin, although when I saw that the bloody Dragon had somehow survived a battle-ship to the face, I knew they weren't going to make it out alive if it saw them, so I ran interference while they flew away… and then I killed it"

"You… killed an S class Grimm single-handidly?"

"Well, it was hurt after the cruiser incident but I guess I did…"

"Hmmm… I take back what I said earlier, this one's certainly better than that monkey friend of yours" Ghira muttered, earning a punch in the side by Blake who was blushing furiously and trying to give her father a serious glare.

"Back to the story, I didn't exactly fare too well from the fight as you probably could have guessed and I was kinda… well, impaled onto some of the piping from the destroyed buildings from Beacon and ended up unconscious for the better part of a month until I woke up with no clue of what happened… after that, I wandered around for a while until I found Tempest who also happened to be stuck behind and we both busted out of there on a 'commandeered' Bullhead left behind and busted our asses back to Vale with Griffons and Nevermore on our tails the entire time…"

"Is Tempest alright?" Blake asked, her last memory of said shotgunner being of him distracting Adam while Yang carried her away after being stabbed.

"He took a stab wound to the chest and nearly bled out, although he did manage to pull through and somehow lived after some of Josh's leftover nano-bots healed him enough"

"So… he… you know" she stuttered, not sure if she wanted to know the answer to her own vague question. It took Demon a second or two before he realised what she meant and wordlessly reached over his back, taking off the sword wrapped in cloth and placing it on the table. Blake hesitantly reached forward and pushed apart the wrappings revealing the blood red blade known as Wilt into the air. She recoiled at the sight of it and covered her mouth to silence any cries, standing up abruptly, storming off out of the room just as her mother came in holding a plate of tea.

"What happened?" Kali asked, definitely looking infinitely more confused, before her husband sighed and beckoned her over, the woman setting the tray down on the table next to the blade, eyeing it off with suspicion.

"I think Blake needs a few minutes to think over a couple of things…" Demon explained, taking a cup of tea that he was offered by Kali, dropping two cubes of sugar in before pulling down his scarf to take a sip. Ghira was still eyeing him suspiciously, not noticing that Sun was slinking off after Blake while his attention was taken.

"So, why exactly are you sitting here now?" Ghira continued, sipping his own tea with the same cold glare he always seemed to have.

"After we made it back to Vale, we met up with our friends from Beacon and my Sister, who was on Blake's team, and I found out just who was behind the attack. I brokered a deal with some guys so that they wouldn't go around killing my assets and set out to get the other two members of team RWBY because moral isn't exactly running that high at the moment and they're our best bet against the enemy…"

"And why would that be?" Kali interrupted, not exactly understanding what he was going on about.

"I doubt Blake would have told you but they've already run into one of the higher-ups known as Cinder and right now, she's as much of a threat as the Grimm, so experience is something that we are in dire need of right about now…"

"So you want my daughter to follow you and fight this great evil that not even an entire academy full of Hunters and Huntresses could have stopped?"

"Don't forget the Atlesian fleet there…" Demon added, not exactly helping his own situation, "yet, it is your daughter that we need right now because, I for one, know that we need every able-bodied soldier on the field… and I have a much bigger plan for Miss Belladonna… one involving a certain organisation you may be very familiar with"

Ghira raised his eyebrows and Demon smirked fully, taking a long sip from his tea as he let the words set in. The massive man gave a sigh and basically swallowed the rest of his tea, resting his head on his knuckles as he stared at Demon intensely.

"Do continue..."

With a new smiled, Demon began to tell of his true intentions for 'removing' the problems of Remnant… after all, he'd be far better off with the past leader of the White Fang on his side…

 **[One day later – The Smiling Beo bar and hostel]**

Weiss Schnee wasn't exactly one to swear… but when she woke up to see the face of a tiny psychopath hovering over her head, she didn't exactly versed in any other way to exclaim her shock.

"HOLY SHIT!" she screamed, knocking Neo off her and dropping onto the floor as she tried to scramble away. Neo didn't at all seem phased and rolled with the punches, practically flipping off the end of the bed and landing gracefully on her feet.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" shouted Weiss as she recovered from the rude wake-up call, glaring daggers at Neo as she scrambled to get back into her bed. Neo smirked as she held up her scroll, putting a hand on her hip.

' _Demon said to wake you up… he didn't say how…'_

Weiss grumbled and reluctantly walked over to her wardrobe, looking through her massive selection of outfits… which only really consisted of various iterations of her normal combat skirt and bolero jacket. She put on her normal combat outfit considering that Neo would just change her into that strange disguise that they'd decided upon. She wasn't exactly against the new get-up but it was just so… un-Weiss. It looked WAY too much like Ruby.

She shooed Neo out of her room with a stern look… and with a little help from the pointy end of Myrtenaster, then quickly changed into her clothes and tidied up her hair, opening her door again to see Neo sitting happily outside playing a game on her scroll. The assassin quickly paused it and pocketed the device, cast the illusion of her new getup, then grabbing Weiss by the arm and beginning to lead her off down the hall.

"Wait you dunce! I need to lock my room!" the (until two days ago) heiress scolded, rushing back and locking her door, turning to run back, only to knock into someone on the way. The only way she could describe it would be running into a brick wall as she fell onto the floor, being stunned for a few seconds before she saw the offender offering a hand.

"Sorry for that…" muttered an absolute mountain of a man, Weiss thinking that he was literally taller than Yatsuhashi… and that was saying something. He had short, brown hair and a beard, with an olive-green coat with black gear underneath, his lips set in a neutral expression. She hesitantly accepted the help and watched as the man didn't even bother to say anything else as he lumbered down the hall, brushing past Neo and going down the stairs.

Weiss shuddered for some unknown reason, quickly setting back into her normal frame of mind and briskly walking downstairs, slapping Neo's hand as she once again tried to lead her. Once she came down the stairs into the bar below, she couldn't see the man she bumped into in the hallway but she found Demon sitting in the corner with a few faunus around him laughing raucously as they clanked large beer steins together.

She sighed heavily and ignored the fact that Neo basically ran over and latched onto his arm, Demon lifting her up without much effort while the others just laughed at the display (like Qrow did with Ruby), until he saw her and beckoned her over. Weiss reluctantly walked over and sat in the spare seat, listening in to the last bit of the group's conversation.

"… as I was saying… so I was just sitting there, chillaxing in my room like a baller and then suddenly, these smucks kick in the door with guns and knives and one of them yelled out 'get on your knees!'… so I responded with 'I'm not your mother last night!' and they took exception to that… but, you know how that song and dance goes… I ended up with twelve unconscious guys and a free beer for the trouble!" Demon recounted, raising his glass as he ended, earning a raucous laugh from the rest of the table before they left after thanking him for the beer and story.

"Why exactly are we here?" Weiss asked, mildly annoyed at the fact that the only drinks that seemed to be available now was beer for some reason.

"I honestly have no idea, I was just kinda waiting until Neo brought you down… anyway, I found Blake last night, talked to the previous leader of the White Fang and captured some chick who was spying on Blake…" Demon responded nonchalantly, both Neo and Weiss scoffing loudly, albeit the first was silent, at hearing his explanation.

"Yeah right… I'll eat my jacket if that's actually true!" Weiss countered, not at all believing anything he said, while the previously mentioned Pilot just smiled behind his scarf as he pulled it up to cover his mouth, payed for the beers and walked out the door.

"Meet me outside the big house in the middle, it's hard to miss, I'm going to get my stuff before we leave"

 **[One hour later – outside the Belladonna residence]**

Weiss and Neo were waiting in the shade of some trees a fair distance from the house they were directed to, not exactly wanting to go up and knock without Demon there to clarify everything for them. They had been waiting for some time before they heard the sound of a very familiar motorcycle and looked down the road to see a cloaked figure riding Cerberus down the dirt track at a reasonable speed, ensuring that they didn't hit anyone until they pulled up right in front of the two girls with a small skid.

"Miss me?" deadpanned Demon as he jumped off the bike, holding it by the handle-bars and wheeling it towards the massive house in the centre of the road. He was covered in a large black cloak that completely hid his body below his neck, while he had let his massive mane of hair free to flow down his back, while a pair of sunglasses and the same scarf was wrapped around his mouth and neck. As he got off, the front of the cloak parted and Weiss caught a glimpse of his signature red armour beneath the clothing, his full battle gear being hidden under the guise of a heavy cloak.

"Don't you get hot in that?" Weiss asked, not at all understanding how it could be the middle of the day on a literal desert island and he still wore a dark black cloak and fully armour underneath WITH a scarf on.

"Don't worry, with you here it makes everything infinitely colder…" he retorted, earning a glare from Weiss, while Neo silently giggled. Demon chuckled to himself and continued to push his bike down the road. The other two wordlessly followed, Weiss just mumbling to herself under her breath, all the way up until Demon propped up his bike at the base of the stairs and went and knocked heavily on the door.

"One minute!" came a calm and lively voice from inside, followed by the distinctive sound of something hitting the floor and breaking, followed by the rushed footfalls of someone sprinting to get to the door. A moment later, Kali slid the door open with ridiculous speed while she had what appeared to be a tea stain on the lower parts of her dress, hinting as to the reason behind the smashing sound.

"Ah, you're here… we haven't been able to get through to her since yesterday and we thought you could talk some sense into her!" she informed them hurridly, looking worried and tired at the same time.

"Demon, what did you do?" Weiss asked, putting her hands on her hips and giving him a death stare, while Neo just silently slinked past Kali and begin to walk around the Belladonna's household, something Demon didn't see or even hear.

"Ummm, I may or may not have kinda told Blake about what happened to Adam…" Demon replied, looking a bit sheepish and rubbing the back of his neck guiltily. Weiss face-palmed and turned back to Kali with a small smile.

"Miss Belladonna I assume? I think I may be able to help you with Blake as I have some experience with dealing with these kind of things" Weiss informed her, Demon actually smiling when he saw that she didn't flinch when talking to a faunus like she did even when they walked vaguely near her here. Kali hesitantly nodded and ushered them both through, moving them to one of the back rooms where Ghira was standing outside, seeming to be having a conversation with Neo, the latter using a scroll to extreme efficiency as they chatted at a normal pace. When Ghira saw the other three come in, he ended the conversation and turned to Weiss and Demon.

"My daughter is being a tad… uncooperative at the moment and I think it's best if one of you went in to talk with her"

As if to emphasise his 'uncooperative' point, they all heard a very womanly scream followed by a loud bang, looking out the side of the house to see Sun sprawling with his head stuck in the sand and a rather Sun-like hole in the side of the house.

"Well, you're up Snow Angel…" Demon announced, shoving her forward and into the room after Ghira managed to miraculously open it in time… until he realised that he forgot someone. Just as he did, said person kicked him in the back with a flying kick into the room, landing gracefully on the floor and sauntering in after them, closing the door behind her.

"Neo, did you have to kick me again!" Demon cried as he slowly got up off the floor, nursing his back as it flared in pain. The mute didn't have time to type a response before the subject of their visit reared its head.

"What do you want…" Blake deadpanned, drawing everyone's attention and letting them have a tiny glimpse into the pain that Sun probably had to go through. She looked feral to say the least, her normal outfit replaced with a grey t-shirt and long black pants, the three new arrivals noticing the remains of her shredded bow laying on the floor beside her. She was lying on a chair in a room that looked otherwise normal, a bed in a far corner and a large set of book-cases lining one of the walls to the side. Surprisingly, it was Weiss that answered first, not yet realising that she was still under the effects of one of Neo's illusionary outfits.

"Blake, I don't know exactly what Demon has planned after this but right now, we NEED your help to defeat the White Fang and Cinder…" she said determinately, looking Blake in the eyes to show just how serious she was, not exactly receiving the desired effects.

"And who are you exactly…" Blake hissed back, giving a stink-eye straight back at Weiss, who shivered under the look, until she realised just who that was the reaction. She turned to Neo who had decided to engulf her thoughts in a book that was lying around, snapping back when she felt the gaze of the Ice-Queen fall upon her, breaking the illusion after several rude gestures were sent her way. When Blake saw just who it was, she was stunned into silence despite the fact that Demon had told her of the heiress' arrival here, although she hadn't processed it completely until now.

"Weiss!" she muttered, jumping up and wrapping the girl in a hug, the Ice Queen returning it while a ghost of a smile crossed her features.

"It's good to see you… after everything that's happened" Weiss muttered to Blake, both of them still embraced in a hug.

"I can't believe you actually came…" Blake said, a small number of tears coming from her eyes from the thoughts that were circling through her head.

"Oh please, I'm happy to be as far away from my father as I can be…" Weiss countered, smirking as Blake let out a small chuckle as they broke the embrace, Blake sitting back down on her chair and gesturing for the others to sit. Weiss sat directly opposite from the faunus while Demon sat on the floor because he didn't necessarily want to rip any of the Belladonna's furniture with all the spikey bits and knives on his armour, Neo teleporting onto his shoulder and continuing to read her book.

"So… what's with all this?" Weiss asked, putting her hands on her knees and becoming as serious as she could. Blake sent a quick glare to Demon before she took out Wilt, the blade still being wrapped in the black cloth that Demon had given it to her with. She handed it over to Weiss who didn't show much recognition to the weapon, until Blake explained it.

"This belonged to Adam, one of the first people that ever saw me for who I truly was and the reason why I fought in the White Fang for so long. He was… one of the only people I ever trusted fully, all the way up until I truly saw just how heartless he was to anyone who wasn't a faunus. Even then, I didn't think he deserved to die for it, I don't even think anyone in the White Fang or anyone in general should die for faunus equality… but he didn't see it that way. I'm not exactly sure how I should feel about his death… should I be sad because he was one of my closest friends, or should I be happy that he's no longer hurting anyone…"

Weiss frowned for a few seconds until she answered, speaking as though she was walking on thin ice.

"You should feel whatever your heart is telling you… no matter what it is, you shouldn't feel guilty on anyone's behalf and we don't need to know what you decide, as long as you know it yourself"

Blake nodded and buried her head in her hands, wiping away tears and breathing silently for a few moments until she composed herself and titled her head up with the smallest ghost of a smile crossing it.

"We should probably check on Ilia now that she's awake" Blake announced, standing and walking over to one of the side doors, Weiss furrowing her brow and turning to Demon for an explanation.

"The White Fang spy I knocked out last night…" he explained, standing himself and following Blake through the door she opened, Weiss falling into a quick step behind him so as to not miss out.

Just as the door was about to close behind them, they heard a voice from behind them, calling Demon back out into the main room.

"Ummmm, Mr Demon, there's someone at the door that wasn't to see you…" Kali said as she leant through the door, looking a tad confused, although not as confused as Demon himself was. Said Pilot just nodded and told the others to 'continue without me' as he went back to the main entrance of the house. As he walked to the door, he saw Ghira conversing with someone on the porch, a stern expression towards whoever he was talking to.

"… I already told you, my business is with Mr Demon and him alone" someone said from outside the door, causing Ghira to set his expression even further into a frown. As Demon saw who was at the door, he understood why they would warrant such an expression. They had short, brown hair and a beard, with an olive-green coat with black gear underneath, his own stern look rivaling that of Ghira's as the two had an intense staring contest. They were an absolute mountain and had enough arm hair that he looked a few claws short of being a bear.

"I heard you were looking for me" Demon deadpanned, breaking the conversation so that a fight didn't break out between them. The man outside the door didn't change his expression but nodded in affirmation, Demon stopping just before the door so he could properly size up the guy who was looking for him.

"My employer wishes to meet you face-to-face" he said sternly, not bothering to give any other explanation.

"And they are?"

"You wouldn't know them, but they know you… they simply wish to talk for a few minutes about your future" answered the man cryptically, causing Ghira to scoff.

"Do you really think he's going to go with you after that!"

"Yup…" Demon answered for him, almost laughing when Ghira and Kali both almost cried out in shock, turning to him as if to say 'what the hell', "If this guy knows I'm here then his employer is probably going to be someone who I definitely want to meet…" explained Demon, moving past Ghira and past the man outside, walking down the steps and turning expectantly. The man outside didn't even change his expression and walked down after him, beginning to move off down the road towards the edges of the town, parallel to the docks. Before he left, Demon turned quickly to the two Belladonna's.

"Tell the others where I'm going and if I'm not back by lunch time, I'll meet them back at the inn by night…" he asked, receiving a nod from both of them before the door was closed and he followed the man off down the dirt road. If both of Blake's parent's thought he was an idiot, then they were far from right… he knew far better than to trust this guy straight off the bat and had already unsheathed the knife from beneath his cloak and silently loaded _Law and Order_ as well, his Wingman's hammer already cocked back in its holster.

The man didn't openly show any hostilities and looked genuinely like he was going somewhere, even going so far as to say that his name was Hazel, but it wasn't until they were nearing the edges of the town that his suspicions were finally proved to be correct. He had almost decided to put the safety back on his weapons when he noticed a very disturbing fact about where they were. All he could hear was the sound of the dirt crunching beneath his shoes and the man's in front… there was no sound of birds chirping, no crickets buzzing or anything… something he had become all too familiar with during his days of jungle warfare in the Militia.

As he instantly began searching the horizon and the surrounding area for anything that could hint at what was happening, he noticed a slight twitching of the man's right hand, instantly looking to his right in search for anything… only to lock eyes with the glint from scopes on a house rooftop a few blocks away. He didn't even have a chance to draw weapons before four small muzzle flashes erupted from the weapons and he felt four bullets impact right into his un-armored head and almost completely pulverizing his aura. With a trained hand, he pulled his sunglasses off and pulled his helmet from behind his back, ripping his cape off as well to give him more movement room, putting the mask on in one fluid motion while diving to the side to avoid any more follow-up shots.

His Wingman was out a second later and four shots left the clip in quick succession, shattering the scopes of the weapons and rendering them useless, giving him some brief respite… up until he remembered the man he was following. While his body shifted to avoid any more weapons that could fire on his position, his reaction time wasn't fast enough to move out of the way of an absolutely colossal axe that was careening straight towards his chest. The blade stuck his aura with a destructive force that would have cleaved him clean in two if he didn't have aura, even if he did have his armour on.

The force sent him flying straight into a nearby rock and it cracked from the impact, shattering his aura completely as he felt some of his bones shudder from the impact. He tried to pull himself up, rolling to the side to avoid a follow-up blow from the axe that sent a large plume of dirt into the air where he was a moment ago. He fired off two shots from _Law and Order_ , only for the flares to be blocked by an axe-sweep, showing the man standing there with the same indifferent look that he wore when they first spoke to him.

When Demon expected him to press the attack, the guy stood there as if waiting for them, prompting him to roll to the side as he tried to avoid any sniper fire that would most likely come his way. As if on que, two more bullets impacted the ground where he was a moment ago and he rolled up to try and fire another two shots from his weapons, only to fail when he felt another two sharp pains erupt in his back. His aim faltered and the shots went wide, allowing the man to surge forward and bring the axe in a massive downward strike straight for his head.

With a massive push, he tried to shift his body to avoid the strike and succeeded in the fact that he wasn't killed… but the same could be said for the rest of his body. He didn't feel any pain as the blade passed through the weaker under-armour of his suit, a dull thunk reaching his ears as he heard something hit the ground. Using his parkour kit, he strafed to the side and turned to see just what had happened… only to see his right arm from his shoulder down lying on the ground with a tiny puddle of black blood seeping from the end stump and being soaked into the sandy ground.

Demon was completely surprised at the face that he didn't even feel any pain from the injury and looked at where his arm used to be just so that he could confirm it actually did happen. With a pained grunt, he ripped a shred of cloth from his clothing and wrapped it around the stump to stop the bleeding, sighing as he completed it and looked back to the man with a new fire in his eyes.

For some strange reason, he didn't feel as though anything was wrong at all, a calming clarity coming to the world as everything seemed to weigh infinitely less and the images his mind processed gained a slight haze to them. When he spoke, it was completely devoid of emotion and the normally burly man actually flinched at the calmness of his target after having his arm cut off.

"You know… that was my favourite arm… I'm going to have to kill you"

The attacker was momentarily taken back by the strange choice of words, all the way up until he found himself suddenly defending himself from a relentless onslaught by his target. If Demon was hindered at all by his missing limb, he did well to hide it as the attacker was struggling to block or dodge all the attacks, a clawed gauntlet and shotgun-powered punch making its way past his defence every few seconds as the two traded blows.

"I've got to hand it you... you're doing better than I thought" Hazel spoke through combat, grunting at an especially hard punch to his gut, although Demon just chuckled to himself.

"Hehehehe... I'd take a hand if you got one, I seem to be one short!"

Hazel grunted and continued his assault, never being able to get in a good hit thanks to his targets insane agility and how every swipe just seemed to glide off his armour plating as Demon perfectly twisted his limbs to deflect it.

If he hadn't of taken out the man's aura, the attacker thought to himself that he would have actually provided a challenge, given the fact that he was surviving for so long without even showing pain of any kind… but then again, the entire fight was in his favour anyway. A few extra-powerful axe-swipes later and his target was knocked back completely and thanks to the blunt end of his axe, one of his legs was shattered. With Demon on the floor in pain and his only remaining arm raised in defence, the man walked forward and raised his axe… sending it straight towards the defenseless boy's head with extreme speed… and this time… there wouldn't be any chance he could avoid it…


	10. An arm and a leg to Victory

**Well... after the... mixed reactions from the last chapter, I would just like to say one thing before I start the chapter... you didn't REALLY think I would just chop my main characters arm off and let it slide do you? I can say right now that he won't be getting a replacement arm or anything like that, or even finding some BS way to re-attach it...**

 **To reply to some of the reviews...**

 **1\. BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GODS!**

 **2\. Khorne flakes are NOT a healthy breakfast**

 **3\. I've only gotten a couple of replies as to which Titan's the RWBY characters will get and I'm going to go with the most suggested, so if you want to get your opinion in, just message**

 **AND as always... PLEASE leave a review...**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 10:

Neo enjoyed a lot of things in her life, with an infinitely longer list of things she didn't like, but the point still stood that there were some things that brought a smile to her lips. One such thing was toying with people using her semblance and it was always a hilarious endeavour. And now was no different…

Her semblance was unique in a way that she didn't even know the full limits of its potential, yet the name she gave it aptly explained it well enough… Mirror Rift. Her semblance utilised mirrors as a basis for everything she could use if for… one such example was her shattering illusions. Her semblance created a visual clone of the target or anything she wanted for that matter, as well as allowing for any minor tweaks to the image such as colour and shape, then, if the illusion was shattered, the mirror rift would crack in a designated location and the mirrored object would appear as if nothing had happened.

There were many alterations of this that she used, such as a phase mirror, where a portal of sorts would appear around something and distort the image until it appeared as they disappeared and then transport the object to another set of mirrors at her intended target, basically making it teleportation.

But the most fun she had was when she used her life-like mirrors. Despite the massive strain on her concentration that it brought, she could create a mirror-image of an object or person and instead of the image shattering when something made contact with the mirror, she could use a separate illusion to make it look like the object was affected in the way it should have appeared to be, tricking her target into thinking that it was, in-fact, a real object rather than an illusion, something that made particular prominence in shopping when she would simply conjure a wad of lien to pay for it, make it look like it was actual money, then just dissipate it when they put it in the cash register or out of sight.

As she stood on the roof of one of the many houses of Menagerie, her misericorde currently piercing the lungs of a White Fang sniper that lay on the roof beneath her, two more lying beside their dead comrade with various expressions of pain and shock, Neo began to wonder just how much fun she could have during the fight. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of two loud thuds on the roof behind her, the ice-cream assassin turning to see Blake and Weiss bounding up to beside her, obviously completing their own missions before they came here.

After Kali had come to inform them of Demon's message to them, they noticed a slight discrepancy which warranted suspicion from the three girls… mainly, that the person knew he was Demon when he had not worn his armour in public yet AND that it was already past midday… so, they cut the conversation and began tracking him down, the job being made a lot easier when they saw four muzzle flashes and the resounding gunshots echo into their ears. They didn't have any time to take action before the four weapons shattered into pieces in their hands as bullet contrails arced from another position on the road, the three girls looking to see Demon with Wingman in hand and signature Grimm mask already over his face.

They were powerless as they saw a man in olive green slam a massive axe into their friend's chest, sending him flying into a nearby boulder and the tell-tale sign of a shattered aura followed. Neo, Blake and Weiss jumping into action the second their minds finished processing the information, making a path straight for the fight while their weapons were drawn.

As Neo jumped onto another house, she caught sight of three more snipers on one of the adjacent roof's, another two sets on other roof's, pointing them out to Blake as they jumped from roof-top to roof-top. The faunus didn't seem to notice, Weiss being the first to catch on, the Ice Queen shouting out an order when she saw where Neo was pointing to.

"Blake, you and I will take out the snipers on the right, Neo you take the left and we'll head straight to Demon after we're finished!"

The faunus acknowledged and jumped off in a sudden tangent from her original course, parkouring across roof's and trees to combat the other sniper team, Weiss following her own path as well as Neo teleported over to her targets. This brought her back to where she was now, crouching over the dying form of a White Fang sniper while her concentration was focused on holding a particular illusion of importance. When the two other girls of RWBY saw the dead grunts, they gave a look of distain and definitely would have scolded her or gone into a full-blown rant had it not been for the particular circumstances of the situation.

"Is that…" muttered Blake, pointing to something on the floor next to Neo, the faunus almost completely ignoring the bodies. Neo nodded enthusiastically and pointed back over to the fight, where the three of them saw.

Weiss and Blake both gasped when they saw that their friend no longer had an arm and it was lying on the ground in the middle of the road, both of them looking between Neo and the limb with wide eyes. The ice-cream assassin just shrugged gestured for them to stay put, the three continuing to watch the fight from a distance. They winced each time he was hit with the man's massive axe and was sent reeling from the power behind it, only to come back seemingly un-harmed from the attacks. As the fight continued, they watched as the attacker made a swing for his legs that was easily avoided, yet thanks to some explosion from the blade, the momentum of the swing was completely reversed and the blunt end of the weapon impacted straight into Demon's unshielded knee.

His affected leg bent at an unnatural angle and Demon stumbled backwards, holding it in pain with his only arm and collapsing on the ground. Blake flinched heavily and made to jump forward to help him, but Neo only held out her arm to stop her.

"Do you want him to die!" hissed back Blake, Neo giving a stern look and flipping the bird, pointing back to the fight. The attacker was standing over Demon with his axe raised and a moment later, it was careening straight for his head. As both Blake and Weiss gasped, Demon brought his free arm up in the process, the tell-tale shape and colour of a Red Dust crystal held within his grasp, and let the head of the axe impact it, shattering the crystal and causing a large explosion that temporarily blocked both of the combatants from view.

"No…" muttered Blake again, shedding a tear when the dust settled and showed only the attacker remaining, small pieces of Demon's helmet and armour laying around on the road. Weiss covered her mouth in shock as she viewed the situation in front of her, seeing the attacker shrug to himself and sheath his axe, walking down the road non-chalantly as though nothing had happened.

"That… bastard" Weiss swore, clenching her fist in rage… up until she heard a voice form behind all of them.

"Wow Snow Angel, I thought your parents taught you better manners!" spoke the calm and surprisingly dismissive voice of Demon, all three of them turning to find the seemingly dead Hunter-in-training sitting behind them on the roof. He looked completely fine despite a few sharp scratches from where the axe had hit his armour and he even seemed to have his arm back.

"How…" muttered Blake, not at all understanding what was happening.

"Oh please, after the amount of times that you've thought I died, is it really a surprise that I'm still alive?" he countered, smirking behind his mask and standing back up, walking over to a smug Neo and ruffling her hair, "one word… illusions"

"She… made it look like you died?" Weiss finished for him, still looking as stunned and lost-for-words as before.

"She also helped with the arm… I knew I'd dodged the axe blade so when I saw my arm hit the ground after being cut off, I was a bit confused until she tapped out her name in morse code on my hand... then, I just fought for as long as I could without getting hit until I thought I could help her along with the whole disappearing act I knew she was going to pull at the end, so I used one of my Dust crystals"

"You really need to stop making us think you're dead…" Blake deadpanned, walking forward and hitting him on the shoulder softly before sighing to herself, "although I suppose we could let you off this once"

"So what are we going to do now?" Weiss questioned, sheathing Myrtenaster and crossing her arms.

"Well, I'd assume that the guy thinks I'm dead so we can't really let him see me again… did you guys get anything from Ilia while I was gone?"

"In the three minutes of questioning that we actually managed to get in before we came to find you, we did manage to get something out of her…"

"Which was?"

"Someone hired her to track down Blake specifically, it's a name we don't know but we've got a lead and she says they work out of Mistral…"

Demon smiled to himself and muttered to himself about being 'utterly convenient' then snapped his fingers suddenly.

"Well, that settles it! We're heading off to Mistral… I assume you're coming along Blake?" he asked, the faunus frowning before nodding almost reluctantly, sheathing Gambol Shroud on the magnetic lock on her back. Demon smiled behind his mask and jumped off the side of the building, landing on the ground and beginning to walk back towards the house. The other three girls jumped down to follow him, Weiss immediately noticing something that no-one else appeared to have thought of.

"Uhhhh, aren't you supposed to make sure people don't see you Demon?" she asked, the Pilot responding simply by pressing a button on his gauntlet and shimmering into a nearly invisible haze thanks to his cloaking.

"Shouldn't you be a bit more worried about yourself?" he retorted, Weiss looking down at her body and nearly having a heart attack when she realised Neo wasn't disguising her in the illusion.

"NEO!" she practically screamed, the little assassin smiling to herself and flicking her arm out, Weiss' beating heart slowing down when she was once again covered in the disguise for her. The three girls and an invisible Demon made their way back to the Belladonna's house and didn't even have to knock before the door was flung open.

"Are you all alright? We heard gunshots!" Ghira spoke as he almost busted the door down in his haste, relaxing when he saw Blake and everyone else alright. "Where is your friend?" he asked again, Blake just waving him off and walking inside followed by the other two, Demon slipping past while he was still cloaked. Before Ghira or Kali could ask any more questions, Demon uncloaked and interrupted them before they could talk.

"It was an assassin sent to kill me and he currently believes that I'm dead, so we need to make the rest of the visit quick... we'll be on our way after we finish the interrogation of the prisoner"

The two Belladonna's didn't have a chance to speak before Demon was already making his way towards the room where Ilia was, the two parents looking to their daughter for an explanation, only to receive a half-hearted shrug in response. When the three girls went to follow their friend however, they were stopped by a very confused looking Sun who was standing outside the door, leaning against the wall.

"He said… well, he didn't really say anything, just pointed for me to go outside and locked the door behind him…" Sun muttered to the three, still looking as confused as ever. Back inside the room where Ilia was staying, Demon was bringing out the 'special' instruments that he like to used when retrieving information from those that didn't wish to part with it.

"So… Ilia… you're going to tell me everything I need to go or this is going to get painful for you…" Demon said as he took out his knife, sharpening it on one of the plates of his armour that Ivan had failed to tell him acted like a blade sharpener up until he was just about to leave for Atlas.

"I'm not telling anything to a filthy human…" spat back the faunus, Ilia being tied to a chair with several ropes that stopped her from moving, her skin already flaring red with anger. Demon sighed silently and stepped forward, bringing his head an inch away from her and bringing his knife up to her throat, lacing his voice with as much threat and seriousness as he could.

"I'm not going to kill you, so you can relax on that part… but you're going to wish I had… I'm going to slowly and painfully cut every single thing you ever hold dear to you with this knife right here, never doing enough damage to kill you, then I'll let your aura heal your injuries… then I'm going to do it again, over and over every single day after this until you tell me what I want… I'm going to pry the fingernails from your fingers and then use your ripped flesh as a pin-cushion when I get bored… your voice box will be the first to go so you won't even be able to hear yourself scream as I cut your eyelids and blind you with your own blood… so I say once again, you are going to tell me EVERYTHING I need to know, or you'll experience a fate worse than hell"

By now, Ilia had quite literally turned pale with fear and was doing everything in her power to try and hold to her anger. Once Demon stepped back, she worked up enough courage to spit out a reply, not at all noticing that her fear was quite literally splayed across her features.

"I'll never bow to a human when we're so close to Faunus equality!"

"On second thoughts, I won't torture you for information…" Demon muttered to himself, sheathing the knife and splaying the claws on his gauntlets, purposely scratching the wood on the chair she was in to show just how sharp they were, "I have a friend of mine how is an avid scientist and he's been hard-pressed to find a willing faunus test subject to help him with some of his… less-than-legal activities, so I wonder what his response is when he finds that I can bring him a LIVE test subject! Oh, the things he could find!"

Ilia's mind, by now, was already imaging the hundreds of possible scenarios that could happen with exactly what Demon was saying, her body already convulsing unconsciously as ghosts of pains flittered through her body as she imagined the 'tests' he was talking about, wincing even further as he continued to explain the process.

"My bet is that he'll first start with something relatively simple, maybe an inspection of your inner organs, all while you're still awake of course so he can gather the appropriate readings…" he explained, running a clawed finger over her abdomen just above her belly-button "he'll be interested to know EXACTLY how big each one of them, but don't worry, he'll only have to leave your chest open for an hour or two… then, I suspect he'll move to your eyes, you only need one of them to see right?"

Ilia shuddered and clenched her fists as the cool metal of Demon's claw was already cutting through her clothing and scarring her aura beneath.

"Or maybe, he'll start by taking samples of your blood, he's been bugging me about that as well, it's a relatively painless experience… oh wait, never mind, he did tell me that he'd have to do it without sedatives because it'll act differently with your aura! You're fine with losing a few litres of blood right…"

As her eyes widened even further, she verbally whimpered and began shaking like she was in the middle of a snow-storm in her swimming clothes. Demon noticed all too soon and knew he was a step away from breaking her, pulling his talon away from her chest and taking a step back.

"So… what will it be? Will you let your little mouth talk a bit more, or shall I call up that friend of mine and ship you off to Atlas on the next Bullhead I can find?"

Almost immediately, she nodded her head, fearing for what exactly would happen, knowing the treatment would be even worse if it was in Atlas.

"Which is that a yes to? Do you WANT me to call him?"

"I'll tell you anything!" she pleaded, her eyes saying everything that her voice didn't, betraying her inner thoughts to the Pilot and making him smile. He never took pleasure in torture but there were some times where there was no other way to get information that would save countless lives, even if he had to make someone's hell to do so… plus, the White Fang weren't exactly used to people torturing their guys for info, so he doubted they'd have prepared them in any way… which was also backed up by the fact that he'd barely touched her and she had already cracked.

"Good…" he said, walking behind her and slashing her ropes, letting her arms and legs free, Ilia collapsing to the floor when he muscles struggled to work from being stuck in the same position for so long. He let her stand up and smirked at the look of pure confusion that was crossing her face, mixed with the fear she still felt warranted from him.

"You are free to leave at any moment you wish, although I do have some questions that need answering…" Demon began, reaching behind his back and taking out her whip, placing it on the table in front of him, "take it and leave if you want to, or sit and answer my questions… it is entirely up to you"

She looked completely torn… on one hand, she could get out of here and call down the entire might of Menagerie's White Fang on him and burn him for daring to hold her prisoner… but on the other, she had little-to-no clue of the extent of his reach and his words didn't exactly leave much to the imagination of what would happen if she did anything…

"I-I think I-I'll s-stay" she stuttered, taking a seat on the nearest couch and crossing her hands to stop the visible shaking, her skin turning back to a normal skin tone as she eyed Demon. Said Pilot sat down on the opposite couch and crossed his arms, leaning forward and giving her a good look into the almost demonic red eyes of his mask.

"First off… what do you know about the current head of the White Fang…"

 **[One hour later – Belladonna household]**

The three girls and Sun were sitting in the room just outside of the one where Ilia and Demon were 'talking' as Sun had explained, sipping on quaint tea-cups that Kali had provided as well as a seemingly bottom-less kettle filled with tea. Weiss, Blake and Sun were chatting quietly as they tried to inconspicuously listed in to the conversation behind the door, while Neo just happily drew in a little note-pad she had, swinging her legs on the chair she was in while her tongue was out in concentration.

All of their activities were stunted when the door to the 'interrogation' was unlocked and opened, a nonchalant Demon walking out and nodding in recognition to the four of them. Just as they were about to question him, the all saw Ilia walk out behind him, her arms crossed behind her back and a nervous look on her face. She stepped lightly and turned to Blake immediately, bowing slightly and looking down at the floor.

"I'm sorry..." she muttered almost silently, shuffling off out of the house after the apology, muttering to herself in a voice so low that not even the faunus' enhanced hearing could pick it up.

"What did you do to her?" Weiss asked, watching as Ilia slinked away, her hand going to Myrtenaster in case she tried anything. Ilia was just about to leave before she was stopped by Ghira, murmering half-attempted apologies while he stood there wondering what the hell was going on.

"It's alright, we've got everything we need, she is free to leave…" Demon instructed him, the man subconsciously moving slightly to the side just enough so that she could slip past, still looking at Demon for an answer.

"You're just letting her go free!" Blake accused, her teeth grinding in slight anger as she reached for the hilt of Gambol Shroud, intent on following the girl out of the house personally.

"Yes, she was kind enough to give me everything I need and save the lives of thousands so she deserves to be free and what else would you have done with her? We've got everything we need…"

"How about asking why she was spying on me!" Blake retorted, baring her teeth as she glared at Demon.

"She was told to under orders from a White Fang general to find your exact whereabouts and report back so that they can have you eliminated for defecting"

"THEN WHY IS SHE WALKING FREE!"

"Because as far as she is concerned, you are currently on a boat heading straight to Atlas and will tell her superiors as such…"

"How'd you get her to agree? The White Fang would never agree with humans… wait! Did you…"

"No, I did not ACTUALLY torture her…" he replied, taking a tea-cup off the table and pulling his mask up slightly to chug it down, coughing slightly at the heat from the liquid.

"That is definitely one of the stupidest things you've ever done…" Weiss stated as if for the pure reason that she could give him another death-stare, the Pilot shrugging it off once again.

"Now that we've got nothing left here, pack your bags people because we're heading off to Mistral, drinking tea and kicking ass… and we'll be fresh out of tea by the time we get there…"

Demon began moving out of the door, followed by Neo who teleported onto his shoulder and continued to swing her legs back and forth over his back while doodling in her note-pad again. Weiss made to leave, walking up to the door, before she turned back when she realised Blake wasn't moving.

"You are coming, right…" she asked softly, waiting for a response from the quiet cat faunus.

"I… just… need some time to finish up with things here" Blake answered with her own soft voice, bringing a smile to her team-mate's lips, as well as a certain monkey faunus beside her.

"Hell yeah! Blakey's back in the game!" cheered Sun, pumping his fist in the air… only to see the dead-pan expressions of both of the others in the room.

"Just had to kill the mood…" muttered Weiss before she left, leaving Sun to turn to Blake who just sighed and walked off to another part of the house.

"What did I do?" he asked himself, taking a sip of tea from a cup held in his tail before sighing and following the others off.

 **[Two hours after sun-down – Menagerie docks]**

Demon waited in the open bay door of a Bullhead he had 'procured' from a pair of White Fang grunts that happened to be waiting around, Cerberus already tied down in the bay while Weiss and Sun were sitting in the back waiting, the former filing her nails while the latter played a game on his scroll. Neo was sitting in the co-pilot's seat and continuing the scribbling she had been doing for the better part of a day.

He was flipping a spare coin between his fingers, a little memento of home he had found in one of the spare holding compartments of Cerberus, the largest solid-metal currency of the frontier that was tradable currency in both mainstream trading hours and in the darker black-markets. On one side was the symbol of the United Earth Government or the UEG as it was wider known as, a duel-headed eagle clutching lightning in its left talon and a knife held in the other, both an homage to the bloody civil wars that took place before Earth united under a single banner, the left eye always looking to the past while the right looked forward to the future.

On the other side was the one he was more interested in, a simple message etched onto the face that read 'let the fires or retribution ignore the innocent…', the very words spoken by the founder of the Militia when they were first recognised as a fighting force against the might of the IMC. He still had no clue why they accepted it as valid currency but didn't exactly complain, just another question he'd get answered eventually.

He flicked it in an extra-high arc when he saw the last member of their motley crew and caught it with a quick swipe of his hand, putting it away in his pocket as Blake strolled up to the doors of the Bullhead.

"Everything taken care of?" Demon asked, climbing up the ladder on the side of the Bullhead to climb into the cockpit, receiving a small nod from Blake in response. She climbed into the back and strapped in, just as he closed the front cockpit window, Demon spinning up the engines and starting up the fuel lines to the turbines, a warm blue glow coming from the two jets on the craft's wing-tips. He flipped the switch to close the side-door and lifted off the ground by a foot, letting it hover for a few moments until he saw the one thing he was waiting for.

On the far horizon, he saw three sets of pale-blue jet-flares as three White Fang Bullheads jetted off in the direction of Atlas, no-doubt following the directions that Ilia had issued on behalf of him, leaving him a free-sky and nothing between them and Mistral.

"Welcome to 'you probably won't die' Airlines, this is your captain speaking…" Demon spoke into the mic in his helmet that he had linked to the speakers in the back of the aircraft, projecting his voice so that the other three could hear, "in-flight snacks are not complimentary and any complaints can be taken to our complaints department, located immediately beneath you when the side-doors are opened… if there are no more questions, we'll be on our way!"

He smiled at his own antics and pulled up on the throttle, pushing the engines to max speed and gunning off North, straight to Mistral… where their next set of threats awaited them… and the one thing that brought shivers to his soul and was something that made him think twice about what he was about to do… the inevitable reunion with Rosaline.

 **[Omake #1…]**

 **Well, I bet ya never thought ye'd see this! After a couple of suggestions by my friends, I was given a couple of reasons why I should to an Omake series, so you'll see a couple more of these in latter chapters, mainly whenever I feel like it and they'll just be covering some of the better antics of our resident Pilot's and friends back in Beacon.**

Markus sat on his bed in the dorm room assigned to him, sitting alone and reading through a faunus biology book and soaking in details, all up until the door got busted down by a fiery-eyed Tempest who looked frantic.

"Quickly, Markus! I need your help!" he practically shouted, grabbing the Pilot by the arm and dragging him off down the hall with no effort, the scientist offering absolutely no resistance as he was practically pulled along like a trolley.

"What could you possible require my assistance for that you cannot find from someone else?"

"Demon left his armour in his pod and I need to find out how the hell he fits a reactor in it that can run all his systems and make his cloak last for like twenty minutes…" Tempest explained, picking up Markus and slinging him over his shoulder while he sprinted full-speed down the corridors of Beacon, drawing strange looks from anyone seeing them.

"So you need me to help you disassemble the chestplate to find it?"

"Spot on… let's go!"

Two minutes later, the two of them were standing in Demons pod, the door being blown off courtesy of a Titanhammer rocket from Tempest, with Demon's classic samurai armour laying on a table in front of them.

"Got any ideas?" Tempest asked, Markus cracking his fingers with a smirk and getting to work. A few minutes later, he had cracked off the back plating and all that was left between them and the reactor was a small plate. Tempest was jumping up and down on the spot in anticipation as his accomplice carefully lifted it off to reveal… something they definitely weren't expecting. When Tempest saw it, he stopped jumping immediately and stared at it in rage.

"You have got… to be kidding me…" he muttered, not at all believing what was in front of him. Inside the nestled core of wire bundles, several sticking into its main circuits… was a Nokia phone… still sitting on 100% battery…


	11. Hell's Legion

**I'd like to start by saying, I haven't really been keeping to my normal update schedule given that it's nearly been a month since the last chapter and I've been feeling like crap the last couple of days which doesn't exactly leave me in much of a state to properly remember where I was heading with the storyline...**

 **My excuse is that I had jetlag for three days straight after getting back from America and I didn't manage to get back into the swing of things for a while and I started working on this as soon as I got back, but I'm afraid it's a bit subpar despite everything, although it's really more of a filler chapter with a BIT of fore-shadowing...**

 **Thanks for all the support from everyone reading this story and I'll be the first (second) to say that it isn't the best out there but people read it and that's enough for me... which also somehow equates to OVER 100,000 VIEWS ON ANGELS AND DEMONS! Which got me thinking... some of the OC's have been sitting around for a while, so I'd like to thank gvintheodore for his OC 'Ryan 'Scorch' McGregor' that'll be making a small appearance in this chapter for a bit, as well as in some later chapters... I am NOT forgetting the other OC's, I just need a better place to actually put them in properly without making it a deus ex machina and make it extremely out of place...**

 **PLEASE leave a Review or PM so I can know how I'm doing or if you want to suggest anything...**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 11:

The armoury of the _Silent Prayer_ was a marvel to all those who stood within its high-arching ceiling, the gun-metal grey walls lined with hundreds upon hundreds of weapons, attachments and ammunition racks to boot. Great Titans were stowed in their firing racks down the furthest reaches of the hall that was the armoury and small corridors branched off to the many other sections of the ship at various intervals throughout. But, now was not a time for any of the soldiers aboard the ship to marvel at the sheer beauty held within… for now was a time for war.

"GET YOUR ASSES IN GEAR PEOPLE! WE GOT DROP IN FIVE!" shouted the current helms-master of the ship, Pilot Escariot Gremlin. He was the second-in-command of the forces of the _Silent Prayer_ , the Militia's 56th Legion and the rightful heir to the throne of their previous commander, Demon. After the incident on Ralia and the loss of their leader on a 'supposed' botched mission, it wasn't until the ship's system manager, Curan, mentioned quietly to their next in command that he had received a comms message from Demon that they eventually began questioning what exactly happened to him.

One week later and they eventually found out just why Icarus had ordered an orbital bombardment on Demon's position… compliments of the fact that he sold out his entire fleet to the IMC, leaving every ship other than the _Silent Prayer_ and five other small cruisers to warp out of the battle barely alive… while every other soul in the fleet was torn to shreds from a detachment of IMC strike cruisers. A few days after that and the _Silent Prayer_ had managed to stumble back to the Militia's home planet of Harmony for repairs, meaning that they were one of the only ships guarding the planet when an entire two thirds of the Militia's power was being pointed straight at Demeter to try and take out the IMC's re-fueling lines for their entire fleet… needless to say, it wasn't fun when the General that just defected from your army led the remainder of the IMC fleet straight to your home planet.

Three weeks of intensive fighting later and the IMC were finally pushed back, compliments of thousands of lost lives and billions upon billions of dollars of military hardware expended at the cost of the Militia. When the main fleet made it back, they were greeted to the sight of hundreds of ship-wrecks floating around and only 3 ships that were fully operational and not currently docked at one of the many repair cradles orbiting the planet. Luckily, the _Silent Prayer_ didn't receive crippling damage and was able to pull through, only losing a fifth of their crew during the battle, which wasn't good considering they were the smallest detachment in the entire Militia.

Now, almost a year after the 'incident' and they'd been following every lead they could to try and find to link to his 'disappearance', only managing to find a single lead that had provided them with the entire basis of their search. During a raid on a dis-used IMC base for supplies, they found a forgotten project code-name 'Looking Glass'… nothing that stuck out as 'look, I'm the answer', but what they found inside could only be described as a miracle. It was a study into a series of occurrences during IMC operations where anomalies were detected upon the detonation of large yield explosives or railgun firing tests, where the energy detected on the sensors was almost tenfold what should have been detected.

After the cogboys of the 56th managed to decrypt some of the data logs, they found a rather strange point of interest in the logs… mainly that there was one recorded at the EXACT moment Demon's comms were cut when he disappeared, something that they couldn't just ignore. Moreover, they found several other recorded instances that correlated many of the other events that had become widely known across the Militia.

The first was fourteen years ago, on one of the lesser-known IMC disturbances in the razing of Gearra Prime, when an IMC detachment of Spectres managed to detonate a large yield nuclear device on the world to wipe out a well-known Militia supporting colony to make an example of them, while the other was a data log that correlated with the exact time the 2nd Legion lost the 'replacement' squad for Demon in a botched mission on Serra Nulima.

The records all showed the exact same thing… a small fluctuation of an unknown energy source that was flickering in and out randomly until a massive energy input was expended next to it and it discharged everything, disappearing instantly afterwards and appearing at a seemingly random point some light years away from where it was last.

Which led them to where they were now, some hundreds of kilometres above a ice planet that held the latest iteration of the strange confluxes. The only problem was… it just so happened to be right above an IMC forward base that could call a strike squadron on them in a matter of minutes, laying waste to what little defences the converted transporter had to offer. That single fact led them to take the problem on with no back-up, letting their ships signal cloaking ensure that they weren't detected and making sure they'd be able to drop in undetected from orbit, but from then on out, the ground forces wouldn't have support… but that didn't matter to the 56th… for they were Hell's Legion and they would not be deterred by some petty odds.

As Gremlin looked from the viewing port of the _Silent Prayer,_ he smiled slightly as the crew sprawled around him in an organised chaos to prepare everything for the hot-drop. His thoughts were torn from the battle when a large weight fell on his right shoulder and he turned to see a massive tangle of red hair block his vision. He smiled as he realised who it was and twisted around, wrapping them in a hug and planting a massive kiss on their lips, smirking to himself as it was returned with vigor.

"Eh, lovebirds! Get your asses to the armoury ASAP!" yelled a warning voice off to the side, that of their resident training instructor who was sitting at one of the panels to the side of the command bridge. The two 'love birds' in question broke off and Gremlin came face-to-face with his wife of three years, a red-head with shoulder length locks that framed a petite and muscled body, his own height trumping hers by at least three inches. She wore a Holo-Pilot armour set that was coloured a speckled grey and white paint-job, a Cold War grenadier rifle slung over her back with a silenced RE-45 Auto sitting in a holster over her left breast.

"Let's head over to kick some ass" she smirked, grabbing her helmet and placing it on her head, walking out of the room and turning left to head to the armoury. Gremlin smiled to himself again and picked up his own A-Wall helmet off the arm rest next to him and followed her to the armoury. When he finally arrived, he walked over to the arming racks and picked out his loadout, a Spitfire LMG and an Archer Missile Pod, hefting the massive weapons onto his back and attaching the robotic switching arm over his left shoulder to the Archer.

His next order of business was to get into his Titan, a large Legion that was painted a ghostly white with a Predator cannon to match. With a couple of painted grunts, he climbed up the body-work and switched on all the controls, hearing the satisfying hum of the main systems coming online.

 **Greetings Pilot – Battery at 100% - Core at 0% and charging – Predator cannon online**

Gremlin, grabbed the control sticks and linked the OS to his helmet, keeping the hatch open and activating the movement servos at the same time, getting the massive war mech to lumber down the centre platform of the armoury straight towards the drop-bay, where the rest of his soldiers were waiting for him. His sights were rewarded a couple of moments later as he saw twenty Titans all lined up on drop-racks while a hundred or so grunts and Pilots milled around on the ground below, ordered into squads of four, all of them geared up for war, holding weapons and armoured up to the best of their ability, everyone having some form of fur or thick cloth coating their armour due to the fact that they'd be assaulting an ice planet. He didn't want to bring the entire might of his forces down in case the mission went FUBAR and he lost the entire Legion with him.

"Listen up ya bloody Bolo's!" Gremlin roared, drawing the attention of the soldiers in front of him, all of them standing at attention and saluting out of respect. "We'll be dropping in on hostile territory in T-Minus 3 minutes and I don't want anyone stealing Oxygen and doing shit all while we're down there. Once we drop, we're 4 klicks out from the main objective so head north for three klicks and then North-East for the remainder so we can stay out of their scanners and use the mountains as cover. I want the Tone's up front, Ronin's behind, everything else in between and the Northstars at the back… this is not going to be pretty so make peace before we drop because we won't have any air-support! UNDERSTOOD!"

"Sir Yes Sir!" chorused back the soldiers in front of him, all of them dropping their salutes and getting into their designated drop-cans, be they Titans or the four-person drop-pods that were basically re-fitted life boats. Gremlin closed the hatch on his Titan, lumbering to the only magnetic rack that wasn't occupied and hooked his Legion up, locking the Predator cannon on his back for safe-keeping.

 **"** **Yo boss man? Why are we even out here?"** crackled the comm systems in his HUD, showing that it was one of his squad members that had asked, also noticing that he had left it on wide-comms which broadcast it to every single other soldier's radio.

"I'm going to forget you even said that so the vets won't go kicking your ass after we get out of here… you're getting paid and are killing some IMC shits so you should be happy… just gear up and get ready to raise hell, we're scorching the place as soon as we get the data we need" responded Gremlin, wanting to diffuse the situation as he saw several veterans of the legion mumble and fiddle with the safety's on their weapons as they gave the speaker various glances of hate.

Since the incident above Harmony, they'd had to make up for losses within the legion by going around for another recruitment drive… the only problem was that just about every single soldier and their mother wanted to get into the famed 56th, which meant that there were WAY too many requests for transfer… so he did it the same way Demon had and it seemed to work out well enough over the last few missions they'd been on. But now he realised more than ever that he would never be able to train them the way Demon could. There was just too much dissension between the ranks… only the veterans truly listened to his orders and that was only, at best, half of his troops, while the rest of them followed him purely because he outranked them.

When Demon was in control, the soldiers followed his lead because they actually wanted to, no matter if they were fresh out of boot camp or grizzled veterans who had been fighting for almost triple as long as he had. As his mind went back to his first days of fighting for him, the lights in the drop-bay cut out, indicating that they were entering the final moments of preparation and they'd be planetside in under a minute.

"From here in out, we're going dark on comms except for anything that is VITAL to the mission… once we cut out their inter-planet tower you're free to call whoever the hell you want, until then if any of you let out even the smallest of radar blips, I'll personally see to it that you clean the company's toilets with your face for the foreseeable future… clear?"

"Sir Yes Sir!" chorused back his troops, cutting all comms channels and checking the ammo for their weapons and Titans again, the other drop racks bringing the other Titan's weapons into their hands with the help of servo arms. The speakers crackled to life in the drop bay and the master-of-drops began the procedure to get them planet side.

 **"** **Titanfall in 3… 2… 1… dropping now!"**

The speakers were drowned out by the colossal sound of the bay doors dropping away beneath them and the incessant howling of the cold winds of the planet below. The clamps on the Titans released and the magnetic accelerators on the racks boomed with power as they rocketed the thirty tonne mechs towards the ground below at ridiculous speeds. The jump-jets on the mechs flared roughly a hundred feet from the ground and they slowed down significantly, allowing them to land on the ground completely intact. As the systems of the mech came back online, the main CPU having to be shut down during the fall to stop damage when it hit, the soldiers brought up their Titan's weapons and scanned the surrounding area with the massive armaments, seeking any targets that might cause them trouble.

Finding none, they arranged themselves in a circle roughly a hundred metres apart and the drop-pods carrying the ground troops came careening towards the ground moments later. Once all of the troops were deployed, they split off into three different battle-groups and made way towards their target, intent on finishing it as fast as they could… without any slip-ups, this would be done in less than a day.

 **[Two days and five hours later]**

To put it simply… the plan went to complete shit… and that was putting it nicely. Now, they were fighting for their lives with little-to-no ammunition, no communications with their carrier… and were minutes away from being completely overrun… the funny thing was, it wasn't the IMC that they were fighting.

Even funnier… they were working with the bastards to try and survive. When they'd made it to the IMC base they were trying to take over, it was evidently already under attack, indicated by massive smoke plumes that were billowing even through the extreme cold, as well as the fact that the massive communications tower was toppled over halfway into the base through several destroyed buildings. They'd cautiously approached the door to see what was going on, surprised by the fact that it was opened as soon as they broke the treeline. They'd seen a group of IMC grunts waving them over, the Militia holding their fire as Gremlin lumbered forward to them. One of the grunts practically sprinted forward and shouted out to them, Gremlin having to open his hatch to catch what he was saying over the howling wind.

"HELP US!" he was screaming over and over again. Just before Gremlin could question, the Militia opened fire and he boiled with rage at his dis-obeyed orders… until he saw what they were firing at. The squad of grunts near the open base door was lying in shreds of frozen blood and skin shreds as monstrosities that looked like were-wolves happily began ripping their skin from their bones, sometimes not even bothering with that small courtesy. After two seconds of sustained fire from their Ions, the things were nothing more than melted piles of nothing on the ground, courtesy of the heated plasma that was sent their way. Gremlin picked up the grunt that was still alive and brought him towards the open cockpit so they could talk.

"What the hell were those things!" demanded Gremlin with a growl, scaring the grunt past his already 'pants-shitted' state.

"I DON'T BLOODY KNOW! THEY JUST CAME OUT OF NOWHERE AND STARTED RIPPING US TO SHREDS!" replied the grunt, his eyes wide and his arms cradling his head as he himself was trying to process it. As if the gods didn't want to give Gremlin a straight answer, he heard shouts from behind and turned to see a massive pack of the werewolf things tearing into the un-protected ranks of his foot soldiers. Well... saying a pack was a bit of an understatement given that literally a WAVE of the things were coming at them, enough so that he could no longer see the forest past their sheer numbers.

"COVERED RETREAT!" he shouted, the Titans instantly shifting their guns to the rear of their troops and mowing down the seemingly endless horde of the werewolf things while the grunts made a scrambled attempt to get inside the gates. Gremlin put the IMC grunt on the ground with the instructions of 'get my men to safety' before he closed the hatch on his Legion and spun up the Predator Cannon, putting it into CQC mode and lumbered towards the front of his troops.

He had originally thought that the Titans couldn't possibly be taken down by these things that only had claw for weapons but it wasn't until he saw a Northstar being covered so completely that he couldn't even see the paintjob that he started to doubt it. His fears were also confirmed when said Titan exploded in a large fireball as the Pilot activated a nuclear eject as he rocketed into the sky, hinting at just how much damage these things could do, should they get close.

After a minute of intense fire, all of their troops had retreated and Gremlin's line of Titans were slowly making their way towards the open doors of the IMC base. Just as Gremlin's Predator cannon ran dry for the fourth time since his firing, he locked in the third last barrel of ammo he had and switched on comms to the rest of his troops.

"Get inside the base, I'll cover while you go!" he ordered, the other ten-or-so titans that were left behind breaking the line and sprinting as fast as they could back to the open gate doors. Just as they started running, the massive horde of wolf-things began sprinting as fast as they could towards Gremlin, the only target left for them… but that was exactly what he wanted. With a sadistic smile, he activated the Titan's Smart Core and began pumping round after round of lead into the encroaching mass with no care in the world as the boosted targeting systems in the Titan began passively correcting the trajectories of each bullet that left, heading them straight towards their next doomed target.

All the while, Gremlin was moving backwards as fast as the chassis would allow, edging closer to the gate and salvation from the creatures. His Smart Core ran out of juice and he began cutting into the ammo reserves in his drum, still mowing them down with each passing second. As he finally ran out of ammo, he went for broke and turned his war mech around, activating its sprint mode and trying to get there as soon as possible. The encroaching wave of the creatures nearly caught up to him before he made it inside and two other Titans slammed the doors shut behind him, stopping the wall of darkness.

It took the Legion a few moments to calm down before they realised another fact… the base wasn't exactly a safe place either. Gremlin quickly organised a grouping and the 56th were leaving not soon after they received the location of where the rest of the IMC were holed up from the one grunt.

Which led them to where they were now, with less than one clip of ammunition to share between the entirety of the troops that were left and only three Titans with enough operational power to run for more than two minutes.

"Oi, IMC shithead… how long's it been now?" Gremlin asked as he sat on the top of his Legion, scratching an engraving onto the hull with the point of his knife to pass the time, not even bother to look up from his work.

"The name is Ryan McGregor so get that into your bloody head… and it's been 3 hours since the last attack, so we're due for one soon"

As if on que, a large roaring was heard and Gremlin groaned.

"Echo squad, get your asses in gear! Load up and take care of that!" he shouted over the din inside the base, a large company of grunts and six pilots moving off down one of the hallways towards where a loud banging was emanating from. "Your squads are up next McGregor…" he finished, going back to scrawling on the hatch of his Titan.

The battle group from the 56th were currently holed up on the third level underground in the IMC base with a detachment of the IMC that was almost the same size at what the Militia brought. Once they'd freed the troops at the base from some of the creature's, they'd managed to crack into the armoury and had taken refuge on one of the lower levels where they could face the enemy on equal grounds in choke-points that would allow for minimal ammo consumption and maximum impact, just how they wanted the fighting to go… there was only one problem.

In the two days they'd been stuck here, there was absolutely no communication lines to get help from the _Silent Prayer_ or even a nearby detachment of IMC cruisers in the nearby sector. Getting the comms back online was the number one priority other than their survival… but that meant trecking through below freezing mountains… as well as braving the seemingly endless tide of those damned creatures.

Even though both the IMC and Militia had access to ammunition replicators that allowed for an almost endless stream of ammo… the only problem was that it DEFINITELY wasn't meant for long-term. They were given to Pilot's in smaller modules that allowed for non-explosive ordinance replication and Titans were given slightly larger modules to replicate their own gun's ammo as well as Pilot ammo at a better rate… but then it always came down to power supply and materials.

The Pilot replicators would re-purpose the bullet casings and clips to produce new ammunition and the Titans would do the same, although neither could run effectively on full efficiency for more than fifteen minutes, before they either short-circuited and exploded, or simply just shut down permanently… which also involved exploding. The base was fitted with replicators, although the fact that they were running on generator power quickly cut that option almost immediately, which was why they were running short on ammo.

"So how exactly are we going with our latest idea?" asked Ryan, standing next to the Thermite Launcher of his own Scorch class Titan, a flame red paintjob dotting it, with fire decals to match, as well as a red skull on the cockpit door to round it off.

"Splendid sir!" chimed an engineer on a table nearby, standing over what looked to be a cut-apart 20 mil shell from a Plasma Railgun, "The shell is the perfect size for your brilliant project and I'll have it operational as soon as my assistant returns with the bronze coupling wires and the upshifting generators!"

"English please…"

"Give us five minutes…" replied the assistant for him, a woman around the age of thirty. The plan to establish communications was simple at best, although it'd be their only shot at getting out of here if this strange creature horde was indeed as endless as they believed. They'd fit a transmitter into a plasma railgun shot and then amp it up into the base's only railgun station and fire it straight up, far enough so that the _Silent Prayer_ could pick up the signal… which only meant getting to the railgun firing station… which was still two levels above where they were.

"You have two… GEAR UP PEOPLE, WE'RE MOVING OUT!" Ryan shouted over the din of the collected troops, causing all the IMC troops to stand and pick up weapons and armour, while the Militia troops continued to ignore him. Gremlin just grunted and ordered his own troops to moved, the Militia troops almost instantly at their feet, weapons and armour already on ready for a fight within seconds. Gremlin smirked at the looks on the IMC troops faces and got in his Legion, booting up the systems and losing his mood after seeing just how drained his batteries were.

"Look, we've only got to last for thirty seconds at the most before close fire support can be brought in IF our message gets out there…" Gremlin spoke through the loudspeaker in his Titan, turning the heads of all his troops, as well as some of the IMC. "But I have to say, this will not be in vein… the fight shall continue and our souls will forever hold it to our killers as revenge drives us in hell to being our own version of the underworld to our enemies the second we crawl out from that damned pit and TAKE BACK THE FRONTIER!" he roused, earning a massive roar of approval from his troops, the 56th moving through the opening, raring to get out of there and finally put the intel they found to use.

Ryan felt like he should at least try and rival that with his spirit but he wasn't really as enthused as his Militia counterpart, yet he'd at least try.

"For all those not 'touched' by that speech, I have something to say!... we have a situation here where you're stuck between hell itself and your worst enemy… you didn't sign up to get slaughtered by those mindless shits out there who have nothing better to do than hound on our doors all day spewing useless garbage and smelling like shit… oh, you also didn't sign up to be killed by black hell-beasts as well"

The IMC let out a raucous of laughter as the Militia tensed at the insult, despite the fact that some of them were laughing themselves. Gremlin growled to himself and was a second away from turning his Predator Cannon on that IMC asshole, until his wife stopped him by placing her own Titan's hand on his.

"It's not worth it babe… let's just get out of here and we'll deal with this later" she reasoned, earning a nod from the commander, the two of them following after their troops a moment later. As the sounds of intense fighting sprawled on the higher levels, the communications device was finally finished and the IMC troops escorted it to the higher levels, marveling at the fact that there seemed to be very few Militia casualties…

Five minutes later they had loaded the railgun and were ready to fire… another minute after that and the roughly three hundred troops were fighting in a tight circle in the middle of the base's courtyard while they waited for the Silent Prayer to send in re-enforcement's.

"OI! McGregor! What's your kill-count looking like!" Gremlin jeered, crushing the skull of another wolf-thing with his Titan's fist, long having abandoned his Predator Cannon in favour of up-close and personal combat. The two commanders had taken on a (un)friendly competition to see just how many kills they could rack up before the support arrived, realizing that they'd finally be getting off the planet soon enough.

"A helluva lot more than yours ya bloody bastard!" replied Ryan as he used the Thermal generators in his Scorch's fist to melt a group of the creatures, picking another one up and throwing it into another pile of the beasts.

While they fought, the _Silent Prayer_ moved into position above the site, literally sending up massive plumes of snow from how close its engines were to the ground, and let loose with the air-to-ground cannons, tearing the creatures to shreds in moments as the ship send down landers to carry troops back, transporting all of the ground troops with extreme efficiency and no casualties, just as the whole mission should have gone. As the _Silent Prayer_ hovered over the site, Gremlin was mulling over just what had happened during the time they were there, not at all coming to a conclusion about what he should do… until it was kind of made for him.

"SIR! ONE OF THE NUKES JUST DETACHED FROM HOLDING!" alerted one of the attendants, breaking Gremlin out of his trance almost instantly.

"HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN!" he roared back, switching his console to ground view and seeing something that looked like a comet streaking towards the ground.

"We don't know Sir, the ship didn't even send a report that it was fired until it went through the priming sequence…"

"IT'S PRIMED! WHY ARE WE STILL HERE, GET US AWAY ASAP!" Gremlin shouted, almost slapping himself at how stupid half of his new crew were. The engines of the ship jetted to life and the ship was cruising away at a slow speed, something that definitely wouldn't put them out of range of the nuke. Sure, they'd avoid the initial blast from the thing, but it was the massive EMP shockwave that they were worried about.

"Why aren't we warping!" Gremlin questioned, still guttering under threat from his own armament and from the accumulated stress from the past few days.

"The warp drives are undergoing upgrades, Sir, we don't know if they'll work!" answered another attendant.

"Currently, I do not care… it's better than crashing into that god-forsaken planet again" he ordered, the attendants rushing to go through the priming sequence. Just as the nuclear warhead detonated some kilometres beneath them, Gremlin knew they didn't have much time before the EMP effect would render their engines useless and they'd be pulled into the planet's gravitational field.

He felt the warp drives activate and the familiar groaning of the ships structural beams and the hull, readying the massive craft to break the fabric of reality and shunt it into another space in their reality… the only problem was, it wasn't THEIR reality that they'd be travelling to.

"Sir… the anomalies… well, it's doing something" mentioned one of the attendants on one of his lesser-used consoles that he'd installed really only to say when they'd reached the place where they'd find the data. As Gremlin looked out the front viewport of the ship and was instantly brought to see a massive warping mass of space and looked to be folding in on itself over and over, large tendrils of energy arcing from its center straight towards the ship. He didn't even have a chance to reply before the warping started… only this time… the white lights were tainted with the purest red they'd ever seen… red like roses.


	12. Unmasking a Demon

**Well... as it goes with just about every chapter of this story now, I once again apologise for the abysmal update rate of this story... I am neck deep in work right now and I have barely any chance to do anything for fun which is why this is taking so long to update... keep in mind the fact that each of these chapter is roughly 6000 words long and it takes me about 8 hours of solid work to write that much, not including editing...**

 **As a side-note, a fan of mine (I was surprised I had one) thought it would be a cool idea to do a audio-book kind of thing for Angels and Demon's, so after a bit of conversing, the first chapter of Angels and Demons is now up as an audio-book on Youtube. The video can be found on the profile page of Powerhouse616, so I urge you to go check it out and give him some support as well...**

 **AND, finally, PLEASE leave a Review or Comment on how I'm doing, as well as any suggestions or OC's you might want added to the story...**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 12:

The cold air of 12,000 feet was something unlike anything you could explain… it felt different for everyone who experienced it… the lack of air… the cold embrace that it brought, the bruning sensation as the wind wipped against your face… it was a truly other-worldly experience… and it was something that Demon was currently using as something to try and clear his head. As he was heading on the 18-hour long flight to Mistral, his mind had become clouded with countless thoughts that had circlulated for some time, yet he didn't quiet have enough time to deal with any of them until now.

At this point, he was sitting calmly on the roof of the bullhead in a Lotus position, his legs crossed over while his palms were sitting in his lap… the perfect way to clear one's mind. The wind wipping past at ridiculous speed did nothing bar the fact that his hair was bellowing in a trail behind him as his body was held in place by magnetic locks in his armour.

The only thought at the fore-front of his mind was, where exactly did Kalazar go. He had disappeared, possibly after his bout with the Grimm Dragon, although with him being unconscious before the fight even began, he didn't even have full knowledge of how he ended up skewered on pipes to be honest. His mind had seemed… less clouded, after Kalazar had seemingly disappeared and he no longer felt a lingering presence in the back of his mind, monitoring his every thought as it was played through his mind… although, all that brought to him was fear rather than relief. Without Kalazar, he didn't even know if he would be strong enough to defeat Cinder, let alone Salem.

One thing that stopped him from giving up hope of the voice's disappearance was the moment when he had finished speaking with Salem in the hospital, when someone shouted to 'get out' that definitely wasn't the witch herself speaking. He hadn't heard it properly thanks to the fact that he had a headache worse than hitting the bar for a day straight. If he was ever going to come close to defeating Salem, he'd need one of three things… the backing of the entire military forces of at least three of the nations of Remnant, which was definitely out of the question. The next was figuring out how to conceivably develop a nuclear device using the resources here, although he definitely didn't have enough Plutonium on him to make anything big enough to make an explosion larger than a small house.

The last was the most feasible to be honest… he needed Kalazar back. They had talked during the down-time of his first break in his schooling semester and both of them established a single fact... Kalazar really only wanted one thing in his entire existence… to wipe out his so-called 'sister' and reclaim his throne. Demon didn't know what he meant by sister or even throne, but he wasn't a complete idiot. From what he could gather, Kalazar had probably once been infinitely more powerful than he currently was, something that Demon couldn't quite fathom, yet this sister of his had taken it from him. His 'throne' was another thing that he was never quite told the exact meaning, but again, he could put the pieces together.

Considering the fact that Kalazar could, in essence, command and talk to Grimm, he guessed that the voice in his head used to have a body as well so that he could have done so, although he never even hinted at being slightly disappointed in his confinement in his mind, Demon even remembering that he had said he didn't ever want to get out or something along those lines.

This led Demon to believe that Kalazar was, in some way, similar to Salem, although he guessed that the voice in his head had 'slightly' less of an unadulterated hate for humanity considering that he hadn't complained thus far. Which led to his other problem… that of, if Kalazar was truly gone, then where the hell did he go? Was he with another person, enacting the same scheme he had with Demon? Had he found another person who could do it easier? Had he travelled back to Demon's origin universe?

Demon sighed and looked down into his palms… the hands that had sentenced millions to death. By his own doing, he had killed thousands upon thousands of IMC soldiers without remorse, ever since he first picked up a weapon and he was trained to be a killer, far before he joined the Militia. His adoptive parents after his mother disappeared from the universe saw it fit to have him train under one of the most ruthless mercenaries available to them, despite the fact that he was still going to college to complete his engineering course, which they'd insisted was weapon engineering as well.

Come to think of it, that was probably the reason why he didn't have many friends during college… once they found out he was professionally trained to kill people and was essentially being taught to engineer weapons of mass destruction… they tended to keep their distance.

The training he'd received was the main reason he was accepted into the ranks of the Militia as they simply glazed over his age when they saw who'd trained him. Of course, the credentials of graduating from a prestigious school were basically for naught when they had no open spots for field or support technicians, so he was shunted straight into the front lines as a grunt with a rifle… which was exactly how he stayed until he was finally promoted to Pilot four days after the 'incident' that he'd discussed with Winter and Neo on the trip to Atlas.

Most of his kills were during the massive conflicts over the oil-fields in a sector close to Harmony which the Militia were hard-pressed to defend from the oncoming IMC onslaught from a nearby warp station straight to their HQ. The Legion he was serving under then, the 4th, were tasked with taking it down so as to loosen up the IMC's grip over the open space between planets and to stop them from receiving reinforcements indefinitely.

As was expected, it didn't go as planned and their ship was shot down, so the ones that survived had to work their way through a massive network of defences planted by the IMC to destroy the power cores… needless to say, he'd learnt damn well how much blood could be spilt by a few well-trained soldiers against what was essentially an entire army, who never expected anyone to breach their first line of defence.

He didn't sleep in the four-day mission that they'd went on and they only ever stopped fighting after the Legion's support group finally broke through the defences and allowed them respite from the almost endless running from IMC battle-groups on the ground and hiding from the bombers that flew overhead.

Snapping back to reality, Demon broke his gaze and went back to meditating, deciding to try and pull off something he'd seen Ren doing once. He pulled out his knife and placed it point-first on the ground, gripping the handle as hard as he could. Then he carefully moved his body so that he was positioned with his chest over the knife's handle, only keeping one hand attached to the knife. With a flared spin, he kicked off with one of his legs and fought against inertia to keep his centre of gravity directly over the pointed knife, succeeding after what seemed like a minute. Now, he sat with one hand holding the point of the knife directly into the top of the Bullhead perpendicular to the metal, the rest of his body holding as still as possible spread out like a star-fish while he spun slowly around as the knife spun with his momentum.

He smiled to himself when he settled into a rhythm and began the slow process of clearing his mind, muttering the same phrase over and over until he was calm.

"No pain… no rage… no fear… no hate… no thoughts… only nothingness"

Just as he was about to finally stop and stay perfectly still, the Bullhead shifted slightly with turbulence and his balance was completely destroyed, the Pilot slamming into the top of the craft and barely managing to stop himself falling off the side as his concentration was broken.

"Damn it…" he muttered to himself, grabbing his knife once again sheathing it, preferring to stick with the old methods, lest he actually manage to fall of the side of the ship and drown in the massive ocean beneath him. As he settled back into meditation, he was oblivious to the silent laughter of a certain mute assassin who was snickering to herself in the cock-pit of the ship, laughing at his plight at her own hands. Neo snickered and a sigh was heard next to her, compliments of Blake who was the reason for the assassin's disruption of Demon's meditation.

The faunus had simply asked the multi-coloured girl where Demon had gone as he wasn't in the back compartment as well as the front cockpit, which was a slight cause for concern, although once Neo proved that he was on the roof, she slightly relaxed that he didn't just randomly disappear.

Blake thanked Neo and closed the dividing door between the two compartments, leaving the small girl to her sleep, silently slinking back to where she was sleeping. As she nimbly jumped over the random items strewn around the cabin and vaulted over Demon's bike as it sat in the centre of the ship, she heard a small yawn and turned to see Weiss propping herself up on one elbow and wiping her eyes to try and rid herself of her sleep haze.

"Blake, what are you doing up at this hour!" she asked, keeping her voice quiet so not as to wake the other faunus in their ship. Said cat faunus sighed and stepped over to the late heiress and sat beside her, dropping her head in thought.

"I've been thinking…" cryptically replied Blake, turning away in what Weiss could see to be guilt.

"Don't tell me you're still thinking of leaving again…" countered Weiss, now fully awake and fixing the cat faunus with her signature glare.

"No, nothing like that… it's about Demon"

"What about him?"

"None of us have any clue who he actually is, other than Rosaline… and I have no guilt saying I don't trust either of them"

Weiss sat on the cold metal floor in shock, raising an eyebrow at the faunus in a mixture of disgust and something else that Blake couldn't quite place.

"They haven't done anything against us in anyway and have been nothing but help, even though I don't necessarily agree with Demon's… impressive track record, I think of both of them as close friends. Plus, if we didn't have them, we wouldn't have fared as well during the evacuation of Beacon"

"That's the point Weiss, we don't even know if what they're doing is because they're good people… sure, they say that they're from this other dimension where there are no Grimm, but they haven't given a shred of proof other than the two logo's and names. They have weapons that make the Atlesian Military look outdated and I'm sure we haven't seen the half of it… if they wanted to, they could literally take over a nation with what they have. Markus even agrees with me, he already said that he's placed a back-door into every single one of the CCT tower's servers and have several programs monitoring the entirety of the Atlesian Military's autonomous fleet… they have the same power as Cinder in this situation so I can't help but feel the slightest bit threatened!"

Weiss sat there and took in everything, realising with a sudden shock just how true everything that Blake was saying was true. Despite this, though, she still couldn't bring herself to think of any of team DRSK or the Angels doing anything against the kingdoms.

"Blake, they're nothing like the White Fang and if they wanted to do anything to us, they would have done it during the attack when we couldn't fight back!"

"Demon himself said they were thought of as terrorists! What happens if he wasn't joking! He is related to Yang's mother, who doesn't exactly have the best track record for being a nice person and we don't know anything about him besides his name, weapons and who he is supposedly working for"

Just as Weiss was just about to counter again with another retort, they both heard a small knocking coming from the main compartment and looked up to see Demon standing there leaning against the side door. Both of their eyes went wide and they opened their mouths to say something, but were stopped when he held up a hand. Before either of the girls could do anything else, he reached up to his mask and disengaged the locks, pulling it from his face and giving them a clear view of just exactly what he looked like, holding the mask in the crook of his elbow as his arm fell to his side.

"My full name is Hawk van Siege Eylstadt Branwen, son of Raven Branwen with a father I have no knowledge of… as of one year ago, I was fighting for the Frontier Colonies in an organisation known as the Militia against a multi-planet conglomerate known as the Interstellar Manufacturing Corperation who were responsible for the complete razing of my home planet… I am trained to kill with an efficiency rating of 249, equivalent to an S class assassin on Remnant and I have confirmed kills with over 300 different weapons and I am the Captain of a Militia Frigate known as the _Silent Prayer_. The total number of hours I've spent in active service probably exceeds 34,400, not including when I was teleported here and both of you are one of the 5 people in existence who know what I look like… I have given you no reason to trust me, so feel no guilt in giving me none… I just hope this is a step in the right direction"

Both Weiss and Blake sat there in silence as they finally had the chance to look at him without his mask, both taking in the fact that he looked a lot different now that he didn't have the Grimm mask on. They saw his eyes, one red while the other was almost the same silver as Ruby's, his chin showing a tiny amount of stubble, although the most prominent feature was the massive scar that ran across his left eye, a jagged and ugly scar that was the complete contrast to Weiss' clean cut across her right eye.

As soon as Demon saw where they were looking, he explained just how the shrapnel in his helmet had caused the large cut and he'd been too preoccupied to have it properly seen to, resulting in the scar that was roughly 5mm wide. They both looked behind him and Demon turned to see Neo with a raised brow, rubbing her eyes to get rid of her tire, raising them even more when she saw that Demon wasn't wearing a mask. She looked him up and down for a few seconds before smirking and blinking, switching her eyes to match his own.

Demon let out a small laugh and ruffled her hair, turning back to Weiss and Blake, looking as though he was waiting for them to talk. Eventually, Weiss worked up the nerve and finally asked him a question, sounding as sceptical as ever.

"Why do you wear it all the time, has Yang even seen you without it on?"

Demon sighed and sat down on the floor, putting his mask away and took out his laptop, beginning the start-up sequence before he replied.

"The original reason I started wearing it became mute a few months ago, something that I regret to say I can't give you the details about, although I didn't take it off after that for the same reason that Blake wore her bow… anonymity. As far as both governments in both my world and yours are concerned, the person you see now doesn't exist. Whenever I needed to disappear, all I need to do is take off the mask…"

"Is that really the reason why?" Blake questioned, still not quite believing him. Demon thought about it again before smirking a small bit as he replied.

"Well… the helmet has air-conditioning"

Blake and Weiss face-palmed and Demon looked back down at the laptop he had, opening a few programs, pulling up the one he wanted and showing it to the assembled crowd. When Blake saw just what it was, her eyes narrowed and she began looking at Demon with an even more suspicious guise, although Weiss didn't quite pick up on what it was.

"Can you explain what this is?" she asked, gesturing to what she saw on the screen. It was a large list of names in three columns along the screen, some with small stars next to them, as well as some having skulls next to them, most notably one file labelled Adam Taurus. Demon sighed before he gave the laptop to Blake, the faunus immediately beginning to open files continuously, blazing through each one with lightning fast speed as she worked from one to another.

"That, Weiss, is a file containing complete bio's on every single person of interest to me, listing strengths, allegiances, weapons and... possible points of weakness. Think of it as insurance in case anyone… turned"

"Why would you…" Weiss began, still not putting the pieces together, until it hit her like a truck. Her eyes immediately narrowed and she walked right up and slapped him on the side of the face. "YOU ABSOLUTE DOLT!"

Demon's expression didn't change at all as he stood there, receiving his punishment as Weiss slapped him repeatedly with barely contained rage. He weathered the storm and eventually the Ice Queen was finished with her tirade and she stepped back, her fists shaking at her sides while she fixed him with a glare of hate.

"I can't believe someone like you could go out of your way to do such a heinous act against people that would never think of harming you!" she scolded, pointing her finger at him with hate, Demon just standing there passively as the slap marks began appearing on his cheek.

"The reason I am showing you this is exactly the reason why you're angry… I shouldn't have done that and it was my paranoia that forced me to make that list… so I'm leaving it in your hands as to what happens with it next"

"Which means?"

"Delete it if you want, download the files, send it off to everyone you know… It's up to you what happens to it"

Weiss' anger eventually gave way to curiosity and she stepped over to where Blake was reading the files, looking over her folder at the current bio that was taking up the screen. Not surprisingly, the faunus was reading over her own file and Weiss was immediately amazed at the amount of detail that was put into the making of it. None of anything that was written down was biased in any way and he had made sure that it was all facts that were said. It listed all known acquaintances and past allegiances. It listed all her weapon proficiency's and just about anything anyone would need to know so that they'd get a complete idea of exactly who she was without ever needing to meet her in person.

And then, her eyes drifted down to the very last part of the file… the weaknesses. As she read over what was written, she was almost thankful that it wasn't written in a way that suggested he was going to kill them, although as she continued to read she did notice that he was a LOT better at judging them as they were themselves.

It read: ' _Blake Belladonna: Weaknesses: lacks belief in own abilities – possibly as a result of past experiences: may require more research… independent to a flaw – refuses to involve those she has not yet analysed herself: may require more research…_ ' and the list went on for much longer after that. The faunus sighed heavily and lifted the laptop up to Weiss, the girl hesitantly taking the device in half-shaking hands as it re-set back to the home screen. She scrolled down the list, noting how it was alphabetically arranged by surname, then found her own name, nestled between her sister's and surprisingly, her fathers.

She left them for later and opened her file, beginning to read exactly what he had managed to write down.

 _Weiss Schnee – German for White Snow – possible ties to old Atlesian language_

 _Titles: Enrolled student at Beacon Academy, member of team RWBY, late heiress to the Schnee Dust company…_

She noted that he had already altered the notes in the short two days that she had be excommunicated from her position as heiress, her heart panging in pain as she once again was forced to remember just how painful it was that her brother was now gaining control of the company. She swallowed down her pride and continued reading.

 _Age: Born 18/3/400 as per Atlesian calendar cycle – current age of 18_

 _Appearance: Usually wears an attire similar to her namesake – keeps white hair in side-tail with a tiara to match – rarely changes appearance and if so, wears expensive clothing – pale skin and blue eyes_

 _Skills: Adept at fencing, out-performing previously known boundary for fencing techniques as a result of Aura boost – possible knowledge of politics due to noble background: may require more research - Hereditary Semblance utilises aura to generate patterns of 'glyphs' that alter surrounding environment or person to gain advantages in combat situates: little other uses noted: exact extent of semblance: Unknown – may possibly include generation of 'hard light' constructs through a 'summoning' procedure mentioned by her elder sister: noted that Winter has not seen a successful summon as of yet – sings as a hobby although could proceed to profession – has completed advanced course in field medicine_

 _Weapons: Adept training with multi-action Dust rapier 'Myrtenaster' – components unknown: metal type unknown: testing required – light proficiency in utilisation of the 'Crescent Rose' scythe-rifle – heavy reliance upon semblance-altered combat – no data collected on un-armed potential: could be trained in self-defence during training: further research required – little training in mechanical or mounted combat – no other training observed: may require further research into firearm proficiency…_

 _Personality: Noted to be 'cold' by her associates and unopen to suggestions by all those bar good friends – heavily weighted towards one end of a topic's point of interest and rarely does not provide her opinion – logical thinker: little room for 'maybe's' during combat situations - bordering split-personality when encountered by those of particular interest to her own ends, notably her sister and member of team SSSN, Neptune Versailles: linkage may be self-explanatory although further research may be required..._

Now she was pissed… mainly because even Demon had noticed she had a thing for Neptune, even when it took him several weeks to figure out Rosaline liked him… but anyway.

 _Attributes of note: Little experience in war-zone combat – no kill record bar creatures of Grimm – prefers her own tactical thinking and is closed to most suggestions – does appear to care for team-mates and is adept at most subjects of matter, most notably, that of the Historical recollection of Remnant and that of Aura manipulation: possible result of heavy Semblance usage – Left handed fighter: possible reason behind little firearm usage_

 _Weaknesses: Over-reliance upon Semblances in combat situations leads to an extreme decrease in combat efficiency when Aura fails: no combat use after aura fail due to melee limiters of weaponry – professionalism leads to downfall when stressed: she does not possess effective capabilities for improvisation in combat situations – previous experience noted that removing effective use of arms and mouth prevents use of Glyphs: capacitation before combat becomes an option is most effective order of elimination_

"Wait a second…" Weiss stated quickly, going back over what she had just read "how come you wrote Blake's weaknesses like normal yet mine look like you want to kill me!"

"It's not because of you… it's because of the name one place above yours on the board" replied Demon cryptically, still not shifting his visage from the stone-cold face he had set after giving the laptop to them. Weiss was just about to click off her profile although decided against it and glanced over the few remaining caption titles, seeing more along the lines of 'suggested training' or 'possible grievances' before she noted a small paragraph of text at the bottom, under the label of 'side notes', quickly glancing over them with her eyes going wide at just what they contained. She read through it carefully and looked back up to Demon, seeing him looking straight back at her with the same glare, his face giving just the briefest of indications to say that he knew exactly what she had just read.

She nodded briefly, with Demon returning the gesture, clicking off her profile as she went back to the laptop screen and the task at hand. When she went back to the large profile list, she scrolled back down to her name location and saw that it was her father's name that was above hers, guessing as such. Her eyes noted that next to his name were three different symbols, one with a star next to it, another of a snowflake, the symbol of her family, while the last one… it certainly caught her attention more than the others, the symbol of a black skull prominently labelled next to the name.

With a click on his name, she was taken to his page and her jaw dropped the second she began reading.

 _Jaques Schnee – false name – forced marriage into Schnee name_

 _Titles: Current owner of the Schnee Dust Company – Father to Whitley Schnee – Illegitimate father to Winter and Weiss Schnee_

 _Age: Unknown – alias states age of 56_

 _Appearance: Altered through surgery – hair is dyed white, original colour of brown – wears white clothing, similar to others of the same family_

 _IMPORTANT NOTE: Kill when next opportunity arises – Immunity to political trial due to position as head of company – wanted for 2_ _nd_ _Degree Murder of Mrs Kalt Schnee: Mother to Winter and Weiss Schnee – placed 3 separate assassination contracts upon Weiss Schnee and one contract upon Winter Schnee – 24 separate assassination contracts on high-ranking officials of the Schnee Dust Company: 16 recorded completions – 1 known other contract against unknown individual_

Weiss' demeaner shifted as she slumped her body in defeat, her heart wrenching at every possible turn as she read each word in her mind, her heart thumping in both pain and anger. She didn't want to believe any of the words on the page, going against it with every inch of her being, hoping that what was said wasn't true… she didn't like her father, but this was describing a monster, not anyone she knew. Just as she was about to shout at Demon for even claiming anything like this against her father… until she saw a small link underneath, labelled as 'evidence'.

Before she could even ask what it led to, Demon voiced it aloud, drawing everyone's attention.

"That file contains evidence against your father that have been retrieved from the database of the SDC itself, courtesy of Neo, although some of the images there I wouldn't exactly call 'for all ages'… and once you do open it, I can't ensure that you'll be the same after it"

The late heiress nodded in understanding, looking back down at the page, moving the cursor over to the link, leaving it hovering over it for some time as she fought with her own mind as to whether she should look into it or not.

"You don't have to…" Demon began before being silenced by Weiss putting her hand up, gesturing for him to keep quiet. She very slowly clicked on the link and was luckily met with another index of documents, the top of the page saying that there were thirty something documents in total. She hesitantly clicked on the first link and was met with a sight she definitely didn't want to see.

It was a written email to a well-known hired hitman organisation that had been 'removing' SDC official since before she was born… the only problem was that it was signed by her father. She read over the exact details and she was immediately disgusted at what she was reading, continue to skim over it which only did more to increase the churning feeling in her stomach. It wasn't until she saw a picture of exactly what happened to the officials after each of the assassinations… and it wasn't exactly pretty.

Her stomach eventually won over her force of will and she quickly stood up and jumped over to the side of the Bullhead, opening the side door slightly and emptying the contents of her last meal into the open air below their flight, Weiss thanking the fact that they were flying over the ocean, so she didn't have to worry about the conscience of accidentally vomiting on some unfortunate soul beneath them. She steadied herself and turned back around, seeing Blake covering her own mouth as she saw just what was on the screen. When Neo jumped around to see what was there, she shuddered a bit.

Demon sighed as he saw the multiple reactions of everyone that was going over the documents, remembering only just now that Sun had somehow stayed asleep during the whole ordeal as he snored loudly and rolled in his sleep. The Pilot decided it was probably best that he left the three of them to go through any of the files they wanted to, knowing that all the other sensitive documents on his laptop were password protected, deciding to head back into the cockpit to check on their progress.

He stepped back into the cabin with the controls and shut the door quietly behind him, sitting down at the Pilot's seat and checking all the instruments that he needed to. Their altitude looked fine, as well as their engine and fuel supplies, the map even showing that it was little under four hours until they would be arriving in Mistral. The CCT Tower would normally feed an Aircraft's exact location directly to the console, although Demon kinda had to by-pass that feature due to the fact that it was down at the moment, so he'd set it to record their speed and estimate where they were if they travelled in the same direction. Needless to say, it had worked pretty well for them now, so he let his worries subside and leaned back into his seat, putting his mask back on and closing his eyes.

He knew all too well the feelings of nausea and betrayal that were going through Weiss' mind right now, even more so considering the fact that the SDC official had basically been hung, drawn and quartered in a VERY graphic way, as evident from the pictures that came along with the file to confirm the kill.

With a heavy mind, he let sleep overcome his senses as he cleared his mind of all thoughts, trying to at least get in a nap before they arrived in Mistral… and if worse came to worse, he'd just have Neo fly them into the docking port. The only thing plaguing his thoughts before sleep overtook him was of one thing… how the hell was he going to explain this to Rosaline so he kept both of his legs very much NOT broken.

 **[Meanwhile – 12,000 feet below the Bullhead – Mistrali ocean – On board the 'Onyx Pearl']**

On board the rather quaint little Pirate Ship known as the Onyx Pearl, two pirates were having a leisurely walk along the deck as they conversed about an unrelated topic while the rest of the crew slept beneath.

"I don't know what you're talking about Gibbs! I'm the luckiest Pirate on this whole ocean!" remarked the first, wearing an old pirate's outfit complete with several large belts, a cutlass and strangely only one pistol, while also having a worn tricorn hat over a bandana on his head, the man chugging hearty swigs from a bottle of Rum in his hands.

"Well, I don't know Captain… you ain't exactly had the best track record" replied the other, a shorter man who wore an even more worn outfit with no special features of note other than the fact that he had a rather expensive looking jacket, as well as a rather large growth of mutton chops as a beard, a single cutlass at his side being his only weapon.

"Gibbs! I'm not a betting man, but I'll eat my hat if anything unlucky happens on this voyage!"

As if on que, a large splatter of an unnamed person's stomach content landed on the deck in front of the speaker, causing him to trip up and fall onto his backside, spilling the remaining Rum on the deck as well.

"I'll get the salt for your meal…" spoke the second man, laughing to himself as he walked off down to below deck, leaving the captain to recover from his rather untimely fall. He brushed himself off, irking at the vomit on his shoes, then looked down into the bottle in his hands.

"… but where's all the Rum gone!"


	13. Remember the Name

**And here we go with another chapter... I've been having a really shitty couple of weeks since the last update, mainly because two of my friends are having birthdays around now and I'm dead broke thanks to getting them presents and I have like NO spare time at all thanks to the amount of bullshit I have to deal with on a daily basis... but thankfully, I was able to bring myself to put this thing together for you guys**

 **Thanks to everyone who has already submitted an OC for the story, the submissions are STILL open if you want to give your own and I am putting in EVERY single OC that has been submitted so far, in one way or another... ALSO, just as a reminder, if you want to submit weapon names for my characters, everyone barring Demon, then send in a PM or Review with your suggestion...**

 **As response to one review, Demon is going to be sticking with his dried and true Atlas Titan for the rest of the story and I may put in Jack and BT as a little cameo, but they won't be showing up as major players in the story...**

 **AND as always... PLEASE LEAVE A BLOODY REVIEW! I have no clue how I'm doing other than how many people are reading this thing and I have nothing else to go off other than it is running about as well as Angels and Demons did in its first few months of release...**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 13:

The mind… a hell beyond all that can be real in life, for the pure point that it can create things that can only be figments of your imagination… and most of the time, they are FAR more real than they actually are.

Which was currently why Demon was in a cold sweat as his so-called 'dreams' began taking over his mind. He had been sleeping for a while now, having no intent to wake up until he had arrived in Mistral, which wasn't for such a while now and wished he could actually have more than 1 hour of good sleep, like he had for the past week or so.

He was floating in an endless void of darkness… nothing new when he considered the amount of times he had run through this dream… but it was different this time. A light appeared at a far point in the distance, nothing special, nothing to say that it was important, it was just there.

The wierd thing he noticed was that it was a black flame… strange, considering that it was somehow still illuminating the darkness around it… although as he looked into it further and the light came closer, he realised something… it was not giving off light, it was casting a shadow upon the darkness itself.

A strange force began pulling him slowly towards the flame, his body moving at a pace that was undefined giving to the fact that he had no markers to judge the speed. After a few moments, he felt himself slowing down as the flame was beginning to come closer and closer, until he was within grabbing distance of the anomaly, his arm reflexively reaching out to touch it.

As his palm grazed the edges of the flame, a pain unlike anything else he'd ever felt before shot straight through his body as the flame surged into his palm, causing him to scream in pain into the void that was around him, the sound lost to the endless silence that met it. The pain started in his arm and quickly surged straight to his heart, burning there like his insides were being torched by an actual fire. As his vision blurred, a bright white light flashed without warning and as he opened his eyes he found himself standing in the middle of an open field, lush green grass surrounding him on a flat plane for miles and miles around.

He was confused at first until he took a step forward and hit his foot on something, looking down to see something jutting out of a small mound in the ground. When he knelt down to see what it was, he brushed aside a small layer of dirt and came face-to-face with the remains of what looked to be a person, their features burnt and decayed beyond recognition. He saw maggots and flies busying themselves around the corpse, even catching a glimpse of a few centipedes that had decided to make themselves at home inside the body's eye cavity's.

In repulsion from the sight, he stumbled back and looked back up to the open field, being surprised to see that it was no longer as it was before but was now covered in hundreds upon hundreds of dead and decaying bodies. His thoughts were broken when he heard a colossal roar and whipped his head around to see the massive Grimm Dragon flying overhead, ignoring him as it headed for its intended destination.

With a new lead, he began sprinting off after the massive Grimm, dodging nimbly over the bodies that were beneath him and simply running over the ones he couldn't avoid, doing whatever he could to not lose sight of the massive dragon, his heart thumping in his chest as phantom pains from the burning still racked him.

As he continued to track the Grimm, its body become smaller and smaller as it flew at speed greater than anything he could hope to achieve, until it eventually let out another colossal roar and dived behind the cover of a massive hill that hid the view of what was on the other side. He quickly made headway to the top and crested the horizon, seeing exactly what was happening, his jaw going slack when he saw what was beneath him.

A war beyond any scale he could think of was being waged a few hundred feet below in an open field, stretching for kilometres, so far that he couldn't even see the edge of the massive battle-lines that were stretched beyond the horizon. It wasn't the war he was used to, with guerrilla tactics and hit-and-run strategies… no, this was all-out martial warfare fought with steel, blood and men.

Two great sides waged the war below, one he could recognise instantly as the Grimm, their numbers innumerable, with a horde of new warriors joining the fight with every passing second, while the other… was beyond anything he could imagine. The fore-front fighters looked to be massive demons from hell, the things standing at least the height of a Titan with cloven hooves and haired legs keeping them standing, massive horns poking from the sides of their heads and clawed hands being present for weaponry, the massive implements tearing apart the Grimm as easily as a hot knife through butter.

The men behind them, though, he could easily place a name upon them. They were Humans as far as he could tell, silver and bronze armour covering their bodies, with the tell-tale shimmer of swords and pole-arms held within their grasps, the soldiers moving in to attack through the ranks of the demon-things whenever the opportunity arose.

And at the back… he saw more hellish beasts that should, and could, not actually exist. There were eight of them in total, six of the beasts moving through the ranks of the humans without ill-intent, looking as though they were raring to begin fighting, while two others stayed back. It was strange as he saw the two that stayed back, his tactical mind already working to see why they would possibly want to do that. One of them was the largest being on the entire battlefield, his height easily being triple that of the Titan-sized things on the front lines, with skeletal wings protruding from his back and massive scythe-like appendages in addition to the wrecking-ball sized fists he had to fight with.

His body was lithe, despite the massive nature of his armaments and three horns protruded from each side of his head, two of the largest pointing forward as if they themselves could be weapons for skewering those he charged. A massive tail came from the small of his back, the entire length riddled with dangerously sharp spines that could skewer anyone stupid enough to get hit by the thing. The things legs were L-jointed, much like that of the Atlas Titan, although it only had two large toes, both of which ended in massive talons, with another single toe at the back to support its figure evenly.

 **(Imagine Diablo from the Diablo game series, except slightly different)**

As an almost polar opposite to the massive brute was the other demon-thing that stayed behind, a creature that, at first glance, resembled the prime visage of a woman, with a lithe appearance and a coy gait, although as one looked, the thing was anything but. Two small horns were the first sign, while two large whip-like tails also showed its allegiance to some hellish entity. Her feet resembled claws of an avian raptor, while her arms looked human up until you saw the sharp claws on the end of the fingers, the things hands gripping the handles of what he could see to be sickly curved swords, each large enough to cleave a man in two with a deft swing.

The other six of the massive demon-things were all varying in appearance as well, one wielding a greatsword that was at least three stories tall, while another had a Chakram that would split into several others and saw through ranks of Grimm with ease. As Demon watched the fight go on, he was in awe of the entire spectacle… until he realised something. Despite the fact that the Human's appeared to have god-damned demons on their side, they were not making any ground. Every once in a while, one of the front-line Demon things would fall to nearly a hundred Beowolves and Ursa's that dog-piled it, which would open up a tunnel for the Grimm to begin slaughtering the fragile Humans behind them until the massive brutes closed the gap.

There were Beowolves, Ursai, Deathstalkers and even Goliaths here to fight in the way, but with a startled shock, he realised that there were no flying Grimm… until he decided to look up. In the skies above raged a completely different battle, fought between Nevermore's, Gryphons and… Dragons? He saw figures wearing burning gold armour stationed on the back of gigantic creatures that he could only describe as Dragons, the Humans looking small as they stood on a specially designed saddle that sat in the crook of the beast's neck. The beast's had four legs, the back two looking like its name-sake while the front two looked more for combat, with sickle-like claws attached there, two great wings protruding from its shoulder-blades that carried it aloft.

The Human side dodged and weaved, the Dragon's taking down a Nevermore with a single swing with their immense strength, the riders spearing any other Grimm that came close enough with large spears that seemed to spark with lightning, although they weren't invincible. He saw three Nevermore's line up for an attack run and let loose with a barrage of feathers, the projectiles skewering a Dragon in its chest and causing it to lose its flight, the beast plummeting towards the ground and ploughing into the ranks of the Grimm, the creatures of darkness swarming it so quickly that it disappeared beneath a blanket of black fur a second after the crash.

While he was gazing in awe of the ridiculous spectacle before him, Demon was completely unaware of the soft padding of feet that were making their way up the hill behind him. It wasn't until he had a blade pressed against the side of his neck that he finally was drawn away from the massive battle.

Without even bothering to challenge the person who had the blade at his throat, he turned around to face them, not even flinching when the metal cut part of his skin. When he saw who was standing there, his jaw dropped even more impossibly further when he began processing it, even more so when he heard the person who was holding the blade at his throat talk in a deep and gruff voice.

"You are either incredibly stupid to not flinch, or you do not fear death… either way, you are something to be marvelled at…" the figure addressed, Demon taking a second to process it and come up with something to say.

"Well… this is a dream so I can't really die and I've gotten used to pain by now" replied Demon, smirking to himself as the blade was dropped from his throat.

"So, you are stupid" mocked the voice, a smirk coming onto the man's face as well.

In front of Demon stood someone who looked WAY too familiar for it to be a co-incidence, considering they wore an onyx black armour set with a red chainmail beneath and black cloth at every section that wasn't covered, a Grimm mask covering the figure's eyes while leaving the smirk on his face clearly visible. Given, the armour was much more streamlined than that of the samurai's he had modelled his off, but he could still make out one thing… the man definitely reminded him of himself, even down to the weapon he used… a blood red odachi that was pulsing with energy every few seconds.

The blade was mesmerising to say the least, and for the most… it looked like pure perfection. He could not see one single flaw on the entire blade, despite the fact he could tell it had seen battle, and yet it was pristine in every way. The metal of the blade was the same blood red as he had forged it, yet it was glowing as his did most times, although this weapon had gold symbols and etchings inlaid across the entire blade, shining metal that were sparkling in the light. It did not have any hand-guard as most weapons of its type did and the handle was covered in a dark black fabric that was wrapped perfectly around the hilt in the typical pattern of Japanese blades.

Yet, it wasn't that fact that had caught him in awe when he turned around… it was the fact that he was riding on a MASSIVE wolf that was easily bigger than two Ursai stuck together. Its colour scheme was almost a complete inverse of what a Beowolf's would be, with snow white fur and solid black bone plates, keeping the solid red eyes that were a staple of the Grimm. The beast looked passive, although with the near aura of fear it was giving off, it wasn't exactly easy to imagine it doing anything other than eating you alive.

"So… what's going on?" Demon asked, trying to seem as un-phased by the gigantic wolf and what looked to be him, but older.

"You are here from the future to re-live the past…" answered the man, sheathing his odachi and jumping off the back of the wolf, scratching behind its ears and causing the massive beast to growl in pleasure. He walked forward and stood next to Demon, gesturing to the massive battle before them.

"It is sad really… thousands of Remnants finest warriors fighting in a battle that was never meant to be won… countless lives lost and in the end, nothing was gained…" spoke the figure, Demon growing angry when he realised something.

"If you know what's going to happen, then why not stop it!"

"Because it is meant to go this way… I am destined to die today, as well as many others, but that is the way it must be"

"You said I'm here from the future, why can't I change anything!" Demon growled, his hands itching as though to grasp onto some phantom weapon, intent on fighting against the deaths of these men.

"Aye, you are here from the future… but you cannot change anything, this is merely a dream where you are re-living what has already been"

"Then how are you talking to me?"

"Because dreams can be changed at a whim... the wielder of this memory's root knows exactly how I would respond to any question you may ask me and has changed this dream to inform you as such… he tells me it is the only way you can know"

"Wait… do you mean…"

"Yes, you are currently re-living the memories of the voice in your head… I believe you named him Kalazar?"

"So, he is alive?"

"He is in hiding… for the great evil that you must bare witness to today is hunting him and he wishes not that you are unprepared for what is to come"

Demon mulled it over, still watching in silence as the battle below developed, the six massive demon-things slaughtering countless hordes of Grimm as they broke through the front lines and began cutting a spearhead straight towards the back of the enemies lines. He traced where they were headed, barely making out their target… a single pure-white figure standing at the very far back of the Grimm horde, undeterred by the whole war as they stood while Grimm surged past them.

"She is our prize for today's battle…" noted the man, somehow knowing exactly where Demon was looking, "her name is lost to time, although she is known to Humanity as 'She who Corrupts'… but I shall only know her by one name… Salem"

Demon's eyes went wide as he tried to get a better look of the woman, recognising the name instantly.

"She is the perpetrator of the Human-Grimm war… the Grimm were originally a peaceful species that lived beside Humanity with the same quarrels that you had in your society in your universe, although She changed them… they became enslaved to her will and we grew to despise them, each generation growing more and more hateful for their race, until we lost all memory of our existence together"

"How do you know this, you say it as though it happened hundreds of years ago?" Demon asked, still questioning in his mind just what the hell was going on.

"He told me… the voice in your head"

"Wait so…."

"He was one of the originals… the first four Grimm that were ever brought into existence and was created to be the anti-thesis of Humanity itself and he had been living for far longer than even I could comprehend…"

Demon stared at the battle, knowing that he would never get a proper look at Salem, no matter how hard he tried. When his thoughts finally composed themselves, he took note of the fact that one of the massive Dragons that was previously in the fight above was flying down towards the hill on which he was standing, noting that it was slightly different from the massive lizards that were also fighting.

The beast did not have a rider and most of its body was covered in bright gold armour plating in its most valuable parts, while its scales were a matt brown with several veins of black scales worming their way around its body. It was slightly larger than the other wyrms and it also appeared to have a lot more horns adorning its head, as well as eyes that were the purest shade of bronze he'd ever seen.

It flew down at a ridiculous pace until it was a few seconds from slamming into the ground when the strangest thing happened. As it neared, its entire body was coating in a blazing miasma of burning gold, so much so that he could barely look at it anymore, until the massive beast slammed into the ground, kicking up almost a literal tonne of dirt as it slammed mere metres away from Demon. As the dust cleared, he was surprised to see that in the place of the massive dragon was a man wearing burning gold scale armour, with black undercoating and a dark brown duster cape flowing behind him, a massive warhammer crossing over his back, with a helmet that very much resembled a dragon's head resting on his crown, long gold hair flowing down to just above his waist.

The man took two steps forward out of the literal crater he had formed, until he stood a few feet from the other man that had met with Demon, going down onto one knee and bowing his head.

"My Liege, my Clan cannot hold the superiority in the skies for much longer… If we are going to make an attempt on the Witch, we shall be with you on your call, but I must say that we shall be not of much use in the coming hours as our numbers dwindle"

Demon eyed the man that had come to him first, taking a pretty well educated guess to say that this guy was his ancestor… but that raised more questions than it did answers. After all, didn't he come from an entire 'nother universe?

"Master Dracomas, rally your troops, we shall make a push within the hour" instructed the man next to Demon, waving a hand to dismiss this Dracomas' kneeling. As the dragon-man… whatever he was, stood, he turned to Demon and gave a small nod of recognition.

"You are of the times to come? Is this correct?" questioned Dracomas, his voice sounding as though he had not yet transformed back to a normal human's, with the sound being gravelly and deep.

"Aye…"

"Do you know my kin?"

"Is your last name Xiao Long by any chance?" Demon asked, hazarding a guess given his sisters tendency to be likened to a dragon most of the time. With a nod from the man, Demon smirked, knowing how much fun he'd have explaining this to Yang.

"If you do speak the truth, then may I ask of you to give her a message from me…"

He was interrupted by the man next to Demon who instantly seemed to snap back to attention.

"Dracomas, you know we cannot interfere with anything that happens! He is only here to see what has happened and nothing more…"

The Xiao Long ancestor seemed to grow a tiny bit annoyed by this, if his dismissive huff was anything to go off, but he continued anyway.

"Just tell her to give in to her Semblance and it shall grant her passage…" he instructed, completely ignoring the glare he was receiving from the man beside Demon as well as the low growling of the massive dire wolf was well. Without another word, he took a large bow and jumped back into the crater, his hair glowing a burning gold as if he was burning like a sun, the glow enveloping his whole body as it began to grow larger and larger, until it faded and in his place stood the dragon he had seen before. Dracomas bowed one more time before he launched into the air with his massive wings, making a bee-line for the battle that was still raging overhead.

"So, this isn't a memory…" Demon asked as he left, turning to the man next to him. The man stood for a few seconds before nodding.

"His memories of this day were not as acute as he would have wanted, so the best way for you to gain knowledge is through first-hand experience, hence, why I didn't want anyone affecting what is to come… he simply wishes to continue his legacy"

"Can't his children? If they're around in my time doesn't that mean at least one survives?"

"They do, but it is his youngest that is untouched by this war and they have little instruction of the ways of their Aura… as is what happens with the majority of all the ruling families of their time… I hear that only the Schnee's continued with the proper instruction of their kin"

"I thought that the Schnee's and a few others were the only ones with hereditary Semblances"

"That is incorrect… each bloodline has a unique set of Semblances but they are just not as prominent as others, the Xiao Long's for example have Semblances that utilise energy transfer in some form, as well as harbouring what we call the Dragon Wrath, a power which lets them command Dragons with unparalleled prowess and, for some, let them become a great wyrm themselves"

Demon couldn't help but imagine what Yang would look like as a dragon, not really having to do much to come up with a mental image. Then there was the topic which sprung to mind when he suddenly realised something.

"Wait, I thought someone could only have one Semblance? Doesn't the dragon transforming thing mean that they have two?"

"There are several families that are known to have more than one use for their Semblance, ours included, but it is extremely rare for someone to have two distinctly different Semblances. The Xiao Longs use their Semblance to bring about the transformation, as it is not a completely different power than their original. One better example I can give you is of your Mother an Uncle. The voice told me that you have at least continued with the naming scheme I set out, which is, in turn, linked to the properties of your semblance"

"Are you saying that our names define our Semblance?"

"That is correct… your mother, Raven, has the power of teleportation, a result of the legend that ravens appear out of thin air in times of bloodshed… then, your uncle Qrow has a semblance of bad-luck, derived from the tales of great murders of crows flying overhead during times of upheaval or unrest"

"Then that means…"

"Yours is linked as well… the hawk is a bird that hunts in short dashes with lightning speed and blindingly fast turns that can be completed because of their acute sight, hence why your semblance allows you to slow down time to hunt you prey"

"Is that all though? You said that our family had more than one use for our Semblance?"

"That is correct… I cannot tell you the main function of our Semblance just yet, but there is one you should be aware with… you don't think I picked the naming scheme for nothing, did you?"

Demon turned to him with a stunned expression as he finally realised what the man was implying. He did remember a time when he was talking to his mother during the time between the Fall of Beacon and his leaving for Atlas when she left and all that he saw leaving the safe-house was a raven flying away into the night, Demon just thinking she had teleported away and it was co-incidence that the bird was flying there.

"And how exactly would I go about doing that?"

"It is much like that of a werewolf… one must imagine themselves in their bestial form and wish it into reality, using your mind to shape your body into that which you would like to be"

"Is it that simple…" Demon asked, already thinking of the badass hawk he'd envisaged in his mind and how cool it would be to actually fly.

"That and it requires a small push… on the literal side this time" replied the man, taking a few steps towards Demon. Before the Pilot could have any time to realise what he meant, he was hit with just what he was implying… which wasn't hard when there was a 200 foot drop next to him. As he tried desperately to get out of the way of what was happening, he failed and was hit in the chest by a ridiculously hard punch, sending him flying off the edge of the cliff and plummeting straight towards the ground.

He let out a sigh of relief when he realised his Parkour Kit would stop him from turning into paste when he hit the ground… until he looked at his arm and saw he wasn't wearing anything other than some tan-coloured pants and black boots, not even having a shirt to cover his scarred chest.

 _SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT…_

The thoughts that plagued his mind weren't exactly good one's considering that he knew he was going to die in a few seconds, until he was met with a strange sight. To the right of him, he felt a small amount of heat radiating and turned to see something that once again broke his vision of reality. Next to him was a phoenix that was almost as large as his human body with flames of blood red pouring off its feathers, the bird's head looking at him and squawking a loud sound.

Demon didn't exactly speak bird but he didn't need to guess to see that it was the man from the cliff, instantly turning his mind back to what he had been told. He closed his eyes and held his breath, imagining the bird of prey from which his name was derived from. The might hawk, a bird that was unparalleled in hunting speed and manoeuvrability, with sickle-like talons for killing its quarries and with eyes that were known for spotting prey from kilometres away.

As he began to truly begin considering himself one with his namesake, a strange sensation began washing over his arms until he felt something that he had never felt before. He felt the wind rustling in his feathers and causing a delightful ruffling feeling over them as they fluttered from the fall…

 _Wait, feathers? That can't be right!_

When his eyes opened, he nearly fainted from just how much different the world he saw now was. It wasn't different in the sense that he was in another place, but everything he saw was just… different. For one, he could only explain it as that his vision was in a ridiculously higher quality, like comparing what he normally saw as 480p, while now he was watching it in 4k quality... and then there was the more problematic side of it… he also saw a million and one different colours that he was 100% sure weren't there before.

It took him a few moments to figure out that he was seeing the Ultraviolet spectrum after he realised that this new view looked similar to what he had some of the sensor consoles on the _Silent Prayer_ for detecting long-range objects while they were floating in space… plus, they made it a helluva lot easier to see warp-jumps from longer ranges.

With a smirk… well, when he tried to smirk it didn't do anything as his lips now turned out to be a beak. With a… weird beak movement thingy, he flexed his arms to find that they were now a lot longer than his body and that they also had matt-black feathers coming out of them, the reason for the strange sensation from before.

He let out a silent cheer for his success and turned to find the phoenix to see what he was doing, only to find the bird banking off into the air and flapping its wings to fly back up to the knoll he had been kicked off. When he tried to think why, he was snapped back to reality at the realisation of where he was… plummeting towards the ground, and in turn, his death.

The bad thing he noted was that he was falling at a MUCH faster pace than he had been originally, which was bringing him even quicker to the eventual meeting between his face and the ground. Without even thinking about it, his wings tilted back and a tail he never realised he had flicked as well, almost instantly causing his body to bank upwards and become parallel with the ground, mere inches from hitting the floor he was about to moments ago.

He flew at insane speeds, his vision allowing him to see anything and everything that was coming his way, as well as providing a much larger viewing range now that his eyes were on opposite sides of his head, narrowly avoiding small patches of grass that were growing above the ground. Demon relished the new feeling of having his feathers rustled and quickly began growing more and more fond of this new form, laughing inside his head as he dived and banked with ridiculous speeds as a bird.

When his fun finally died down, he remembered that the man had flown back to their first meeting place, his wings immediately banking on reflex as he turned to begin his flight back to the hill. He marvelled at the sheer speed he was travelling, his wings propelling him so fast that the edges of his vision were literally blurring from the speed and before he knew it, he was already circling above where he saw where the man was.

He flew down and kicked out his legs, feeling his talons reflexively open as if he was going in for a dive, yet he used them like landing gears as he flicked his wings at the last second before hitting the ground, cutting his speed to almost nothing and allowing him to land softly on the grass.

Demon looked up to the man and noticed something for the first time… just how god-damn small he was! He was barely up to his guy's shin when he was on the ground! He wondered how the hell he was meant to turn back into a person, although he was interrupted when he felt a gust of warm wind behind him, his eyes turning to see the drooling maw of the massive direwolf standing over him, looking even more imposing now that he was literally under a foot tall.

With a startled squawk, Demon jumped back and desperately tried to change back, succeeding after a few moments and thanking whatever god was out there that the mutt hadn't eaten him.

"Well that was badass…" he muttered, finally composing himself now that there was no looming threat of his imminent demise.

"Not exactly the words I would use but that could be an apt description… now, onto the more pressing matter of why you are here"

"You said something about seeing what happens?"

"That is correct… my being here has no impact on the events to transpire as He informed me that I was surveying the battlefield during this time anyway… your purpose is so that you may learn who you are up against and to discover you true power"

"Why does this sound like some second-rate movie plot?"

Out of nowhere, a person was thrown through the air after a Deathstalker threw them overhead the battle, just past the two of them, shouting something along the lines of 'because it's a shitting fanfiction!' or something like that… he couldn't really hear it properly.

"I do believe that was Private Lucran… he isn't exactly the most sane of our soldiers but he more than makes up for it with his 'impressive' skills with weaponry"

Demon laughed internally and went back to looking for Salem, trying to find where the witch had gone off to, not managing to find the person in white among the black sea of Grimm. As he continued looking, he was oblivious to the fact that the man next to him getting back onto the massive direwolf, taking his odachi out of its sheath and turning the beast around to begin trotting down the hillside. When Demon finally noticed, he turned around and shouted after the man.

"Where the hell are you going!"

"I am not needed anymore and your time here is growing short… you shall be back here for another part of the battle, but for now I need to tend to my troops while you tend to yours… I wish you luck in your life Hawk"

"Wait… what's your name?"

"I am Phoenix Branwen and I am the first of our Clan…" he replied, looking up into the air and smiling to himself as he kicked the flanks of the direwolf causing it to bark in anticipation and begin bounding down the hill towards the battle, Demon wondering why he looked up, until he looked himself… and immediately regretted it.

Flying towards him, mere seconds away from hitting, was the Grimm Dragon, tears in its wings and several Dragons, with riders, which were clawing at its hide. Needless to say, he didn't have any time to move out of the way as it came crashing down onto him with its maw open to swallow him… and then everything went black.

He didn't see anything for some time, until with a sudden jolt, his eyes flung wide open and he found himself face-to-face with Neo stooped down to look over him with a stern expression plastered over her visage.

"SHIT!" he shouted, startled from the fact that she was so close and flailing his arms for a bit before falling out of the pilot's seat and onto the floor next to it. He groaned when his head hit the side of the co-pilot's seat, but slowly got himself up and stretched out his muscles.

"Neo, why were you looking at me like I was about to die or something?" he asked, seeing the tiny assassin frown, although his answer was from another person in the Bullhead's hold.

"Because you were shouting things in your sleep and your body was shuddering violently…" came the ever calm and collected voice of Blake, Demon looking behind to see the girl leaning against the dividing door nonchalantly.

"What was I shouting?" he asked as he sat back into the pilot's seat, trying to check his bearings by looking over the instruments.

"You were shouting something about a phoenix? And about falling?"

Demon thought back to the funny dream he'd had and truly questioned whether or not it actually happened. On one hand, he was sleeping while it happened and his friends didn't say anything about his body moving… but then again, the people in the dream actually talked to him like it was all too real… it certainly felt real. When he remembered, what happened at the beginning of the dream, he hesitantly reached down to his gauntleted right arm, loosening the clasps and pulled his arm out of the armour, turning it palm up… and almost feinting when he saw burn marks on the centre of his palm.

"How did that get there!" Weiss asked, more like an order than anything else, as she marched into the room, dressed in her new outfit, with Myrtenaster already clasped to her belt. Demon didn't answer and reached down to the under-wrappings that covered his arm up to his wrist, unwrapping them slowly to reveal a small burn-trail that worked its way up his arm like a spiral tattoo, the burn being a solid black like charcoal, yet he could tell it was a burn by the way his skin felt when he touched it.

"My armour's systems malfunctioned and I was burned while I was sleeping… that's probably why I was writhing while I was sleeping" he explained in a lie, trying to sound as legitimate as possible as he ran his finger over the burns, wincing slightly as the metal on his gauntleted fingers cut through the skin and revealed the flesh beneath, showing that it had, at the very least, not completely burnt the flesh and muscle down to his bones.

He took off the wrappings that he had covered his arm with, all the way up to his elbow, then walked past Weiss and Blake to get to his satchel that was slung over the seat of Cerberus. He had taken to wrapping parts of his body with a cloth so that it would seep up the blood if he was hurt and so that his armour was more comfortable to wear and it didn't rub against his skin. While he reached into the bag and began rummaging around for some new wrappings, he noticed that Sun was still asleep in his seat, while he tenderly cradles his gun-staff.

"How the hell did he possible sleep through ALL of the shit that happened…" asked Demon to no one in particular, marvelling at how the boy slept through all of Weiss' ranting the night before AND when he had just woken up with a more than colourful exclamation.

"Apparently, he's a heavy sleeper…" Blake answered for him, walking over to the monkey faunus and kicking him in the shin, only causing the boy to shift slightly in his sleep from discomfort. Demon muttered something along the lines of 'lucky bastard' then got back to the task at hand, pulling a large roll of cloth from the bag. He pulled out an amount long enough to wrap back up his arm and tore it off, pulling a vial of Ice Dust out next, grinding the crystal into a powder with the help of his knife, then scattered most of it over one side of the wrapping, taking a small waterbottle out as well and pouring the contents over the Dust, ensuring that the powder was seeping into the cloth.

He picked up one side of the cloth and did one wrapping around the top of his arm, taking the end in his mouth to keep it pulled tight and beginning to wrap it around continuously, moving down his arm every couple of wrappings. The cloth hadn't even been wrapped an inch down from where he started when he felt a tapping on his shoulder, looking up from his task to see Neo looking down on his with a slight smile, a hand held out as if asking to help.

Demon decided it would probably be best if he didn't do it this time as his versions of wrapping he did by himself were always abysmal, so he let it go from his mouth and the little ice-cream girl took it in her hands, pulling it as tight as he had and began wrapping it around his arm, this time with a lot better efficiency than the Pilot. She was quickly engrossed in her task and paused every couple of moments to look at the scars that riddled his arm, her expression become more and more sympathetic as she continued with her task.

He let her get on with it and turned back to the two other girls that were talking quietly while looking on a map, Weiss pointing at something that he couldn't see thanks to his position.

"How close are we to Mistral?" Demon asked, drawing the attention of both, the late-heiress quickly responding.

"We are, at most, an hour from the fringes of the borders with another ten minutes until we reach the city from there"

Demon nodded in affirmation and brought up the clock in his HUD with a thought, seeing that he had at least snuck in a two-hour long sleep.

 _Well, at least that's longer than last night…_

When he was about to ask another question, he felt a small tapping on his palm and saw that Neo had finished with her wrappings, the cloth being perfectly done, so much so that he could barely feel any inconsistencies and knots in the wrappings, things that were common-place when he was stuck doing it himself. He smiled and thanked the small girl, ruffling her hair again which caused her to pout at him, teleporting to his shoulder and sitting there as if to spite him.

Demon smiled to himself and stood up, flaring his aura and seeing the Ice Dust in the wrappings begin to work, a cooling sensation washing over his arm which got rid of the disgusting feeling of his burns pretty much instantly, his gauntlet being put on the second he was happy with it.

"I'm surprised you know about that…" Weiss mentioned as she saw what he was doing, marvelling at the fact that he was one of the few people that looked in the uses of Dust other than for just making bullets.

"I'm not that much of an idiot and it pays off to know exactly what you're working with… I can tell you one thing for sure and that's it's a helluva lot better than half of the things that I'd have to do to that in my…"

He was cut off as something strange filled the front viewing port of the Bullhead, his attention instantly snapping to working out exactly what it was… and it took him a considerable amount of time for him to see that it was, in fact, a missile headed straight for them.

"BRACE!" he shouted, grabbing onto the nearest pole and activating the magnetic locks on his armour, grabbing onto Neo as she looked around manically for hand-hold. Blake was pulled next to Weiss as she took out Myrtenaster and stabbed it into the floor of the Bullhead, flaring her Ice Dust to create a shield, similar to what she used back on the train at the Breach.

It was a tense few seconds before the projectile slammed into the side of the aircraft, sending it spiralling out of control and down towards an unseen ground by the occupants, jarring the group when one of the wings broke off and broke the entire front section of the aircraft. Demon gritted his teeth as he felt the inertia begin to give him nausea, his arm reflexively pulling Neo closer so that she didn't bang her head against anything.

With a sickening sound, one he had heard all too well when he had been crushing Titan's, the Bullhead slammed into the ground, rocking everyone in the craft with a shuddering jolt. It took almost a minute for Demon to regain his senses and another few seconds for him to remember what happened. With quick efficiency, he looked around where he was, taking in the surroundings and seeing that the entire front and back sections of the Bullhead were ripped off from the crash, leaving massive gaping holes in either side of the ship, with both of the bay doors being crumpled from the force and both of the wings being torn off as well, something he could see through the cracked glass windows, small fires dotted around the crash site.

Demon could already feel that some pieces of shrapnel had worked their way through his armour and the warm liquid of his blood was seeping into the wrappings over his legs and arms, luckily not on the one he had tended to moments prior to the incident. His helmet was luckily okay and the repair nanobots of his armour tended to the slightly warped metal on one of his legs after it was no-doubt hit during the crash.

He saw the ice barricade that Weiss had made was still intact, Demon letting out a sigh of relief when he saw shifting movement through the slightly see-through ice, even more so when he saw that Cerberus was still intact as well. Strangely enough, he face-palmed when he saw where Sun was… lying in a hammock-like bed made from the hanging and sparking wires of the ripped upper roof of the Bullhead… while he was still asleep. The monkey faunus only seemed to have superficial wounds, thanks to a piece of ceiling metal that had bent down during the crash and shielded him from the shrapnel that had ricocheted around the ship.

 _This guy could sleep through a bloody bombing raid!_

Then, he remembered the last passenger of the ship and looked down to see what had happened. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that the girl was covered in lacerations from shrapnel, a pit of dread forming in his stomach when he couldn't see her breathing. He quickly got up and laid her on the ground, taking off his helmet and pressing his ear to her chest to see if she was still alive, having to wait a few seconds before he finally felt the remnants of a heart-beat in her stomach.

"You are not dying on my watch…" he muttered, quickly diving over to his satchel and taking out the small medical kit he had, practically ripping it apart and taking out everything he'd need to tend to her wounds. As he was doing so, he heard the shattering sound of the ice that Weiss had summoned, followed by the gasps of both of the shield's occupants as they saw Neo's condition.

Demon quickly dived back around with a small pair of tweezers and set to work on taking out the small pieces of shrapnel that were still embedded in her skin, the Pilot thanking whatever entity was watching that none had pieced deeper than her skin. After he had removed everything, he cleaned up each individual wound with alcohol wipes to remove infection and wrapped up the larger cuts so they wouldn't continue bleeding.

As he was half-way through bandaging a particularly large one on her arm when he felt a small shudder from the girl and looked up to see that her eyes had open, despite being half-lidded, but it was at least a good sign. He smiled back at her and the girl tried to imitate it, only succeeding in wincing as she coughed suddenly, a small amount of blood leaking out of the edges of her mouth, her eyes screwing shut in pain. She shuddered for a few more seconds before lying still, Demon's heart stopping once again as he pressed his ear to her chest to check for a heart-beat.

He couldn't hear anything aside from a strange sloshing as she moved, something he could guess to be blood that had found its way into her lungs. As quickly and gently as he could, Demon turned Neo onto her side, tilting her head so that the blood could run out of her mouth and not go back down as she breathed and inevitably drown her in her own blood.

Demon didn't even notice as tears began to sting his eyes as he once again faced the death of someone close to him… it was one of the reasons he didn't get close to anyone in the Militia, so that when they died he wouldn't be distracted… but this… he just couldn't bring himself to give up on her now. He had lost everyone that was close to him in his past life, every single one of his cousins… his adoptive parents… he literally had no-one back there that he truly cared about, but now… he had a new family, and he wasn't going to let one of them die while he was still living and had something to say about it.

"Come on Neo…" he muttered to himself, wishing upon whatever he could that she would pull through this, the Pilot subconsciously pulling the small girl closer as the tears began to flow freely from his eyes.

Even though he had met the girl a couple of months prior, he couldn't help but enjoy having her presence around, the ice-cream assassin always being there to assist him on anything he needed, cheering him up with her somehow infinite supply of ice-cream and the constant small things she'd do, like sitting on his shoulder whenever she could. She had been through so much in her life and she didn't deserve this untimely death to an unseen foe, especially when she had only just began truly living it.

As the tiny girl before him became cold in his hands, Demon only barely registered the hand that was put on his shoulder by Blake, the girl kneeling down to become level with the Pilot's own head.

"She's gone…" spoke the faunus, voicing Demon's greatest fear at the moment, his mind still refusing to let it come to become the truth.

"No… she can't… she just can't be gone…" Demon replied, holding the petite assassin closer as he wordlessly cried into her shoulder, his heart wrenching as he finally began to comprehend that he may have lost a friend for good… and it was his fault.

"I can't lose you Neo… please come back to me…" he muttered so quietly that Blake couldn't even pick it up with her faunus hearing… but that didn't matter… all that mattered was if the tiny girl in his arms could hear him.


	14. Waifu Ambulance

**Hmmmm... well, after the... 'mixed' response in the last chapter, I figured there are two types of people in this world... the first type are those who couldn't care less about what happens to someone like Neo, while the other half are like me and would valiantly fight to the death for their Waifu in the event of waifu-harm...**

 **In response to some reviews...**

 **1\. When have I actually killed off one of my characters? I mean... there's Pyrrha... well, I can't really come back from that, but I can say that Neo won't die and I have no shame in saying that it will be from a Deus Ex Machina**

 **2\. This story is coming to the point where I am starting to divulge heavily from the main RWBY Canon story-line, so this is just a warning that it will happen in one of the closer chapters**

 **3\. Yes... I am making Demon OP as knobs, but he is not going to be the only one getting a power-boost, as you might have figured out from the Dream/Time-travel... PLUS, if this is what I'm doing to the heroes, just imagine the stuff I have planned for the villains :)... I have no intention of making Demon an overpowered-as-all-hell (pun intended) character who can beat the shit out of Salem with the flick of his wrist... every single one of his powers comes for a reason and each of them has consequences... he just hasn't seen any of them yet :)**

 **4\. I will be introducing OC Villains pretty soon, although I can't reveal just what they are, I can say there will be some from both the Titanfall and RWBY-verse, so get geared for some more tragedy!**

 **5\. PLEASE REVIEW!... wait, that was meant to be below...**

 **PLEASE REVIEW!... there, much better**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 14:

Rage… it was a feeling that had not drifted into the thoughts of Demon for some time. It wasn't welcome in his line of work as rage often led to recklessness, and in turn, death… although now was different… now he didn't care what happened… he only cared if those bastards payed for what they did to her.

As he had laid beside Neo, trying to figure out just how he could save her, he was interrupted by a gunshot. He only barely registered the pain as the shot pierced through one of the unprotected part of his left arm, cutting some of his flesh and the passing straight through, hitting the girl that he was currently hunched over. The shot went unheeded due to Neo's current Aura state, the piece of metal hitting her in the stomach, a new red stain finding its way onto her clothing. Her body rocked slightly from the force of the hit, but her face didn't even contort in pain as a response, Demon knowing that her nerves definitely weren't responding.

He broke his gaze from her wounds to look at the perpetrator and saw a particularly smug looking White Fang grunt standing there with a smoking rifle, pointed right at him.

"Filthy Human, I would kill you now, but my…"

The faunus didn't even get to finish the sentence before a knife was lodged in his throat at lightning speed, not even being hindered by the tiny amount of Aura that they had. They choked on it for a few seconds, their mouth opening and closing as their brain tried to comprehend what had happened, before they dropped to the ground clutching their throat. He finished off the pitiful thing by standing up and curb-stomping his head, splattering it into nothing but a crimson paste on the floor with the amount of force he put behind the stomp.

Demon's breathing became ragged as he heard more voices outside, the Pilot looking up from his work, ignoring the shocked gasps of the two team-mates who were watching on it awe, walking purposefully to one of the open sides of the crashed Bullhead, looking outside to see just what had happened… and that was the moment he had felt the purest rage in his life.

Standing outside was what looked to be a battalion of White Fang, the group looking far more armoured than the ones in Vale, and with a lot better weapons, yet that wasn't what he was angry at… it was the fact that one was holding the slightly smoking barrel of a Surface to Air Missile launcher. The Bullhead had crashed in what looked to be a forest, although the trees were spread reasonably far enough apart so that you could walk freely between them, although most of them were torn up from the ground thanks to the Bullhead carving a large rent into the ground as it had hit the forest floor. Small fires were littered around, but nothing that showed to threaten becoming a forest fire, although he could see some smoke stacks in the distance, not too far from their position.

He cocked back _Law and Order_ , chambering the massive shells into the breach with a satisfying clicking sound, drawing the attention of the entire regiment. They had weapons aimed on him in a second, but he didn't care, he knew they'd do a bloody monologue before killing him, just like every single other White Fang bastard that had tried to kill him. His Aura was completely destroyed thanks to the crash, but he'd be damned if he let this pathetic excuse for a military take him down.

As if his very thoughts brought about reality, one of the largest members of the group stepped forward, a burly looking Rhino Faunus if the horn was anything to go off, with a massive flail spinning idly in his hand, with a shield in the other, a small amount of metal armour plating covering his figure.

"And here I thought we were just shootin' down some dumbass who was stupid enough to hijack White Fang property, but it looks like we hit the jackpot boys!" he roared, earning a cheer from the other's gathered, only causing the rage and anger in Demon to surge forth once again.

"So you are the one's responsible for that rocket…" Demon growled, seeing the Rhino flinch slightly at the sound of the voice, the sound of which was something closer to how it sounded while Kalazar was in control.

"That'd be Tarrow's job back there!" the Rhino huffed, jerking a finger behind him to the grunt who was hefting the launcher, said faunus smirking valiantly, "and it was a damn fine shot of I do say so myself…"

The moment that his sentence was finished, Demon vanished from sight before they could even gasp, the sound of a shotgun discharge being the only indication of where he disappeared to. The Rhino turned to see the guy in red armour holding the launcher operator by the throat… or what was left of it, considering that he no longer had a head anymore.

"KILL HIM!" the Rhino roared as the body dropped to the floor, spinning his flail faster as he charged, only to stop when, as the first few Fang grunts got within striking distance, the guy disappeared again. He barely had time to register the pained screams as almost half of his troops were slaughtered in a mere moment, lacking heads or having painfully large holes in their chest, so much so that he guessed he could fit his head through it. He didn't even say anything as he saw a red blur flash between another two of his men, both lacking heads the moment that it came into contact with them.

With a startling realisation, he noted that none of the bodies were spraying blood out of their removed limbs, but their blood was beginning to flow along the ground as if it was a snake, working its way towards the crashed Bullhead for some reason, the crimson liquid being lost from sight as he re-focused on the battle.

"FACE US LIKE A MAN YOU COWARD!" shouted Rhino, as he realised that he only had ten other faunus here besides himself, most of them being the more heavily armoured of his men. He was surprised when, despite how much he doubted it, the man that was slaughtering his soldiers stopped a mere two feet in front of him, looking impassive as the mask stared back at him, the blood of his brothers coating the crimson claws of the man… no beast, that had so mercilessly slaughtered them.

"Do you know what you are…" the thing spoke, the Rhino faunus, still wondering whether he was even dealing with a person anymore. If he had been listening carefully, the faunus would have heard the heavily laboured breathing from Demon as a result of his heavy semblance usage, the human nearly collapsing from the strain of its constant use, almost feeling as though he had run for three hours straight up a hill.

"We are the…" Rhino began, preparing to repeat the same speech he used when talking to any human, telling them just why the White Fang fought, although he was cut short by the deep and raspy voice once again.

"Cut the shit!" it ordered, "You are claiming me to be a coward, yet it is you who murder innocent women and children in the name of bloody 'equality'… you see me as a monster yet it is you who claim lives that you have no right to own… YOU ARE WORTHLESS PIECES OF SHIT WHO ARE WORSE THAN WHAT YOU MAKE OUT HUMANS TO BE!... none of you deserve a quick death, so I am not going to grant that, not when you took away something close to me…"

"Oh boo hoo, did we kill you girlfriend or…" began one of the men closest to him, only to be cut off when he screamed in pain when both his legs were shot off from the kneecaps down, his body falling to the floor with a sickeningly wet slap, the Rhino seeing the shotgun gauntlets of the crimson fighter smoking from the discharge.

"Leave now if you don't want to end up like him…" Demon warned, the other White Fang flinching and slowly walking backwards, wanting to avoid their demise similar to their comrades, hearing the pained whimpering of the disabled soldier. The Rhino was the only one to stand unfazed, stomping his foot on the ground in challenge.

"If you want to get to them, you have to go through me!" he said, slight insecurity showing in a minute waver of his voice. Demon smirked and used his Semblance to basically teleport in front of the Rhino, shooting _Law_ into his arm to cause him to loosen his grip on the flail. He grabbed the weapon before it could fall far and quickly spun it around, wrapping the chain around the Rhino's arm, twisting it around to lock it in place. Demon fired two shots from _Law and Order_ into the Rhino's knees to buckle them, then jumped over the faunus, pulling hard on the chain and hearing as the faunus' arm broke from the flail that was currently held around it.

He pulled harder on the flail as the chain constantly tightened, Demon watching in glee as the Rhino tried desperately to claw at the chain, failing miserably as the Pilot tightened it once more. With a quick pull, the anchored the flail to the ground, stepping on it to keep it there, then punched out with his fist, hitting the part of the arm that was underneath the chain, hearing more bones snap from the attack. After three more colossal punches, the limb decided to give its owner pity as it was wrenched from his body when the flail chain tightened completely, severing it from its holding on the Rhino's body as blood spewed forth from his new bodily opening.

The scream that tore through the air as pain surged through the faunus' body was exquisite to Demon's ears, his mouth contorting in a vile smile as he gave in to his sadistic urges, his mind craving more and more of the delicious sounds of agony. As the Rhino's mind began processing the pain even more, the sounds that came forth as a result of his situation died down, along with Demon's pleasure. Growing tired of the lack of shrieks, Demon reached forward and grabbed hold of the faunus' horn, quickly wrenching it to the side with a violent pull, snapping the man's neck in an instant and causing his body to fall limp.

Demon now turned his attention back to the nine other White Fang members who were shakily holding their weapons while backing away slowly. He took one single step towards them, intent on claiming their lives to sate his rage, although he was denied when all of them dropped their weapons to the ground, falling to their knees while whimpering various iterations of 'we surrender', something which caused even more unbridled rage to swell from within his core.

All he could see was red as the anger overtook him and he felt the need to be coated in blood, not caring whether it was his own, or that of those he hunted.

 _First, they kill her, and now they think they can get away this easily! THEY REALLY ARE ANIMALS!_

"WILL NONE OF YOU ATONE FOR YOUR SINS!" he roared, taking more steps forward until he was a few feet away from them, his hands shaking from the pure wrath that was flowing through his veins. When none of them spoke, up all of them quivering in fear and shock, he roared in pain, knowing that killing them wouldn't satisfy his need for payment in blood. Just as he thought his plea for blood would go unanswered, he heard the soft pattering of feet from behind him.

 _So, someone thinks they can sneak up on me!_

As quickly as he could, he spun around and reached out, grabbing the perpetrator by their throat, lifting them into the air and watching as they squirmed and shifted beneath his grip. His mouth quickly shifted back into a sickening smirk as they desperately clawed at their throat to try and rid them of his iron grip constricting their airways. The joy that grew within him continued to do so as something pierced his side, his eyes looking down in pleasure as blood red liquid began seeping from his side, the thin blade of a rapier piercing his side.

His smirk faltered for a second as he recognised the blade that was cutting into him, it was of a weapon that he had seen before, but where… what was its name again? Myrtenaster? As recognition flooded his mind, he looked to the wielder to see Weiss with her own furious look plastered upon her features as she glared at him with hate. Why would she be doing that though, what had he done?

It was as he was processing the fact that Weiss was angry with him that he finally began to recognise the dull thumping against his chest. He slowly turned to the source to see two legs kicking at his chest, from the person he was holding by the throat, the intensity with which they were occurring becoming less and less as time went on. The boots and leggings seemed familiar as well, the realisation striking him like a lightning bolt. He let go of his quarry and Blake collapsed to the floor, holding her throat and trying to relieve the pain, a small amount of blood trickling from her mouth.

Demon could only stand there in shock, collapsing to his knees as he took in what he had done… he had attacked one of his friends, someone which he would gradly give his life for, and he had just nearly killed them, by his own hand no less. There was no blaming Kalazar on this one… he had just been too stupid and brash to realise what he was doing.

"I'm sorry…" he muttered, grabbing onto Myrtenaster by the blade and pulling it out, not even wincing as the blade was pulled from between his armour plates, blood dripping from the blade.

"WHAT WAS THAT!" screamed Weiss, looking ready to run him through with Myrtenaster again, if the need arose.

"I'm sorry…" Demon responded again, in the same dull and monotone voice as he crawled over to Blake, trying to offer the girl help, only for the faunus to flinch away at first before seeing that he no longer meant her harm. As his hand glazed over her throat, he saw the bruises from where he choked her, guilt racking his mind once again.

 _What just happened… that was just… nothing like I act, I didn't even act that badly when Harald was killed, and he was my cousin…_

"What was with all the blood!" Weiss asked, still slightly hesitant after he had snapped.

"I don't know… I couldn't control myself and I just… well, see for yourself"

"Not why you killed them you dolt, I stopped questioning that a long time ago… I meant what on Remnant is going on with their blood!" she shrieked, pointing at seemingly nothing with the end of her rapier, Demon's head turning to see just what she was pointing at. It took him more than a few seconds to see the small rivers of blood that were flowing across the ground towards him with a startling speed, the blood pooling at the bottom of his feet before gaining a slight glow to them and simply disappearing in a process similar to how he saw Grimm dissolve.

Demon jumped back away from the pool but it simply followed him, the Pilot noticing a slight pain at his side where Weiss had stabbed him with Myrtenaster. Tentatively, he reached under his armour and slid his finger over where there should have been a hole… only to find that he was met with the familiar sensation of his own flesh. Perplexed, he tried to jab his finger in to test it, only to meet a resistance before it pierced the flesh.

"Weiss, I want you to stab me again!" he ordered, pointing to the place where he was previously hit. The late-heiress took a step back in confusion, only to steel herself when she heard the resolve in his voice. She tentatively reared back her arm and thrust underneath the armour… only to find the attack deflected by his Aura.

She thought that was normal, until she realised a very startling fact…

"HOW DO YOU HAVE AURA AGAIN!" she practically screamed, stepping back as though she was looking at a Grimm with the amount of alarm in her eyes. Demon didn't answer as he felt the burn on his arm begin to hurt again, his palm becoming hot as a strange heat began to emanate from it. As he questioned exactly what was happening, a strange urge overcame him and he stepped back towards Blake, placing his hand against her throat again, only not to choke her out this time. The burn on his palm began sending searing pain through his arm once again as he flinched from the feeling, something that could be likened to being stabbed with a burning hot knife, although he couldn't find it in himself to pull away.

The faunus' breathing became less and less laboured as she looked to become more peaceful by the second, until the pool of blood at his feet dried up and the pain in his palm stopped, Demon pulling away to see just what had transpired. He was greeted with the strangest sight, that of the bruises on her throat being completely healed.

"When did this start!" Demon ordered, already thinking immediately of a more pressing matter he could use it on… that of Neo.

"We were in the Bullhead when we heard your scuffle with the White Fang and saw a small amount of blood trickle inside, so we came out to see what was happening, only to find you… well, taking care of the problem" she said, coughing at the end.

Demon's eyes went wide and he jumped up, sprinting over to the Bullhead as fast as he could, practically diving inside when he was close. Weiss helped Blake up and began consoling the strangled faunus, inspecting where the bruise should have been when Demon choked her.

"His eyes…" the faunus muttered through slightly ragged breaths. Weiss was confused at first, until she remembered that Demon's mask was knocked free during the crash and he had run around without a mask on… yet she remembered clearly that he had a mask on? She left that questioned unanswered and continued to tend to Blake, until she heard the sobbing of the faunus soldier who had unfortunately lost both his legs to shots from _Law and Order_.

She winced as she saw his pained expression, especially as she knew that the ground would be tearing up more of the meat that was exposed, although none of the other White Fang looked ready to go and help him, probably out of fear of retaliation from Demon. She sighed and carefully put down Blake, taking out Myrtenaster and flicking the selector hammer to Red Dust, walking over to the whimpering mess.

The faunus was a dog or wolf, she couldn't quite tell with the ears, both of which were pressed firmly against his head when he looked up to see the late-heiress walking towards him. The man shifted uncomfortably and tried to claw away from her, only for the heiress to sigh.

"Don't move and it'll make this easier" she ordered, kneeling down so that she was closer to him. Now that she got a closer look, she could tell he was barely any older than her, yet in his eyes she could see that they were filled with hate… yet again another 'perk' of being part of the SDC she joked to herself.

"I-I r-refuse to d-die" he stuttered through gritted teeth, still trying to crawl away to no avail.

"Just sit still and it'll be over quickly… there will be a sharp pain, but it shall fade eventually" Weiss stated, releasing the hammer on her rapier to coat it in Fire Dust while pulling something out of her satchel, something that the faunus noticed and flinched away at. He already knew he was likely to die, but there was nothing he could do now, he just didn't have the strength to fight back. As he prepared for the inevitable, he felt a searing hot pain shoot through one of his legs and he reared his head back to exclaim his pain, only for nothing to come out as his throat went hoarse instantly.

The pain continued for a few seconds until it faded quickly, only for it to re-start in the other leg, his mind going numb from the pain that was racking his body. Just as he was about to pass out from the pain, with his vision being filled with white spots, all of it just stopped and a calming cold came over his body, the faunus relishing its embrace. He had died… that was the only explanation for it… until he opened his eyes to see that he was still in the clearing with the Schnee crouching over him.

"What did you do?" he asked quietly, barely able to make a sound through his torn throat, bringing his arms up to his eyes to try and clear his vision.

"I saved your life…" Weiss replied calmly, standing up and walking off back to Blake, beginning to tend to her wounds. As the faunus looked down, he saw that the stumps of his legs were no longer bleeding, probably given to the fact that both the endings were now only seared flesh, ensuring that nothing would pour forth once again, with small shards of Ice Dust coating the stump, no doubt numbing the pain that should have still been coming from them.

"Why…" he muttered to himself, not at all understanding why a Schnee of all people would save him.

"Because I'm not a monster…" replied the late-heiress, not looking up from her work but still directing the answer to the injured.

"But… I thought… you hated faunus?" he tried to say, not at all comprehending her motives.

"I hate the White Fang, not the faunus in general, and I am nothing like my father… if I killed you, I would be no better than you are, and that would be the wrong thing to do" she responded instantly, actually looking back to the faunus to answer this time, "even though you may have done bad things in your life, I cannot stoop down to your level to respond in kind… you will pay for what you have done, but you don't deserve to die for it…"

All the White Fang sat in their places slack-jawed at the comment, not believing what they were hearing, spending their time sitting there to actually comprehend her actions. They were all broken from their chance when they heard a strange sound coming from the Bullhead, with Weiss and Blake turning as well, seeing a very strange sight come from within it's metal hold.

Demon walked out holding a sleeping, and very much alive, Neo in his arms, the small girl's chest rising and falling every few moments as she slumbered. Weiss and Blake stood there in shock as he made his way over to them, until he carefully set the ice-cream assassin down on the ground, looking up to the other two with what they could assume to be a smile under his mask.

"It looks like the blood-sucking thing managed to get the blood out of her lungs and when I used it to heal her, I jump-started her heart back into rythme…" he explained, Blake noticing the tell-tale signs of breathlessness in his voice as he panted to try and work through the exhaustion.

"Why am I not surprised…" Weiss muttered to herself, "with the amount of pure insanity that seems to happen when you're around, this is one of the lighter impossibilities…" she finished, grabbing onto Blake and helping the faunus girl off the floor.

"Even I'm not sure what the hell is going on…" Demon answered, kneeling down on the ground from exhaustion. Before they could even ask if he was alright, his body shuddered for one final time before he slumped to the ground, the tell-tale sound of snoring coming from his mask after a few moments. Weiss and Blake stood there dumbfounded at how quickly he could pass out, pinning it down to the heavy use of his Semblance, although now they were stuck with a more pressing problem.

"Where are we exactly?" asked Weiss to no one, looking around at the surrounding forest as if it would give them an answer. Blake took the initiative as she knew none of the White Fang grunts would give her an answer, but they would be more lenient with a fellow faunus.

"Where are we?" asked the cat-faunus, directing the question straight to the White Fang, none of them looking ready to answer until what looked to be the youngest perked up.

"You're three hours' South of Mistral…" he answered before getting hit across the side of the head by the person next to him.

"Can it Dunsey! Don't tell them anything, not after what that red guy did!" scolded a woman next to her, "you remember the last time we saw one of those red-armoured demons!" she finished, quickly clamping her mouth shut after she said that.

"What do you mean, last time?" Blake asked, narrowing her eyes at the person who spoke. The Fang grunt looked ready to spit back a remark, before Blake quickly added something to her words, deciding to give Demon's method of negotiating a try.

"And if you answer truthfully, we let you go free…"

The White Fang Grunts looked between one another for a few seconds before the woman spoke up again, this time a lot more confidently.

"We've seen someone who looked like him before, except she was a woman, we could tell by the skirt and armour… she tore into our troops worse than he did and didn't even stop until we brought in two Paladins after she already took down our first. After that, commands been on high alert to shoot down any transports that try to come or go from the area so we can hunt her down or stop her from coming back…" she answered, shivering for a few moments in between as though remembering something.

"Thank you for that, you can leave…" Blake responded, the Grunts looking between each other again before quickly jumping off their feet and sprinting off into the forest. Blake smiled to herself, knowing that she probably saved them from Demon's wrath after he woke up, and she knew they wouldn't be able to tell anyone where they were because they'd be long gone before that… but just thinking of that let her realise another major problem.

"We're three hours from Mistral, right?" Blake asked, Weiss nodding in affirmation, until they both looked down at the sleeping forms of Demon and Neo, knowing they wouldn't be able to carry them all that distance in three hours. Neo, they could do fine because she was as light as a feather… but Demon on the other hand. His suit weighed a tonne, not literally but to them it was pretty close, and with the rest of his equipment as well as Cerberus and his satchel… they didn't really like their chances.

"Any ideas?" Weiss deadpanned, sheathing Myrtenaster and crossing her arms in thought. As the two of them stood in the clearing trying to come up with some way to solve their seemingly impossible problem.

When the gods out there decided to give them pity, they heard a loud droning noise from off in the distance, the sound getting louder and louder until they saw two Bullheads circling overhead with the symbol of the Mistrali Government on the side. One of them began descending and touched down a short distance from the two, ensuring that it didn't land on any of the bodies that were scattered around the clearing.

And then… like all their prayers were answered… the ONE person they NEVER expected to see EVER stepped out from the side of the craft.

"Cardin?" they both said at the same time in complete bewilderment. Said Huntsman in training sighed heavily as he addressed both of them.

"Ice Queen, Belladonna…" he dryly replied, his mace already held in his hands as he looked around at the carnage. "If I'd gotta guess, this little massacre around here wasn't your doing?"

"That would-be Demon's fault" replied Weiss, looking behind Cardin to see the rest of CRDL in the craft as well. "What are you doing out here anyway?" sha asked, the rest of his team not yet coming out of the ship as they blanched from the sight of the dead bodies.

"We were called out here by some villagers who wanted to get rid of the White Fang who were threatening them… but I see you've already done our job…" responded Cardin, turning over one of the corpses with his mace to see the massive hole in their chest.

"Could you… help us?" asked Blake, seeing Cardin perk up when he looked over to the faunus… and only then did she remember she didn't have a bow on.

"I never pinned you to be one of them, Belladonna" Cardin spoke, Blake already wincing as she prepared for the tongue lashing she'd get from the bully… only it never came.

"Cardin, if you so much as…" Weiss began, stepping in between the bully and her faunus friend, only to be silenced as he held up his hand to stop her.

"I'm not the same as you remember Schnee… I couldn't care less that Blake there's a faunus"

"But…"

"I know what I was like, but that was because I was fed lies…" he explained, growling as he said it, "my mother said that my dad was murdered by some faunus gangs that had stuff against humans, but around a month ago my aunty told me it was my mother who killed him… she abused him so much at home that he committed suicide to stop it… I'm not exactly happy with the newer version of the story, but I wouldn't call myself a racist now that I know that the anima-I mean faunus weren't at fault"

"That is good to hear…" Weiss responded, knowing exactly how he felt with her father doing the same… murdering her mother and blaming it on the White Fang, using them as a scape-goat for everything that his murderous little hands couldn't cover up.

"So, what do you need help with" Cardin quickly brought up, cutting the conversation and train of thought from turning darker.

"We need transport to Mistral" Blake answered, Cardin nodding and gesturing to the Bullhead that the rest of his team were in.

"That's the personnel transport and we can bring down the other transport Bullhead if you want any equipment carried"

Blake nodded slowly and gave a 'yes' to the equipment transport, knowing that Demon would be out for blood if they left Cerberus behind. She drew on what little energy she had and lumbered over to the ship, dragging herself on board and taking up one of the spare seats, seeing the other three members of CRDL give her acknowledging nods, being glad that they weren't against her faunus heritage like their leader was.

She looked back to see Weiss carrying Neo over, with Cardin slinging Demon over his shoulders as well, the four of them making it over and putting the two sleeping passengers on the floor, both reflexively curling up, while Demon just growled when anyone seemed to move closer to him. Cardin and Weiss went back to the crashed Bullhead and got around to the task of collecting all of their gear. First was Cerberus, that was loaded onto the supply Bullhead, along with Demon's satchel and laptop… and then was the problem of Sun.

He was still lounging around snoring as loud as they thought possible, not at all looking close to waking up both Cardin and Weiss tried to get him up. Weiss reached for Myrtenaster, intent on stabbing him awake if it came to it, except Cardin came in and solved the problem in his own… unique way.

"Oi, Belladonna, put some clothes on or the monkey 'ere'll get a look at ya chest!" Cardin said as convincingly as possible, Sun spluttering awake instantly and flailing his limbs around, tangling himself up in the wires that he was resting in. It took the faunus almost a minute to re-orientate himself, coming face-to-face with a smirking Cardin and a Weiss who had taken the liberty to face-palm while shaking her head.

"Ummmm…" the monkey faunus stuttered, his face going red as he realised what had happened, Cardins sneer growing even wider with every passing second.

"We all agree to never speak of this again…" Weiss interrupted, not even bothering to wait for an answer as she took out Myrtenaster and dropped Sun to the floor with a quick slash. The three of them made their way back to the Bullhead and got in without saying anything, Sun looking everywhere other than where Blake was, which Cardin couldn't help but continue to smirk at until Weiss gave him her signature glare… for not even the cockiness of Cardin can stand against the Ice-Queen's stare.

 **[City of Mistral – Main City Landing Pads]**

Just as a certain Pilot stepped out of their transport Airship that they had been stuck on for an unnecessary amount of time, they happened to sneeze for an unexpected reason.

"You alright Tempest?" asked said Pilot's girlfriend, one Yang Xiao Long.

"It's fine… for some reason, I don't know why… but I know that another Waifu has been saved from the jaws of death!" he replied instantly, looking off into the horizon, causing the girl next to him to shake her head and walk off.

"Seriously writer! When are you going to learn to kill off you characters for good? Watch some Game of Thrones god-damn it"

"TEMPEST! MY ARM IS ACTING UP AGAIN!"

"Screw you author…"


	15. Peace and Order By Force

**Now... I know what you're thinking... *avoids brick being thrown*... JUST HEAR ME OUT OKAY! I know I haven't uploaded a chapter in about a month, but I've had shit on top of shit to deal with... for one, I haven't had ANY spare time over the last few weeks and writing was a luxury that I couldn't afford and on top of that, this chapter was meant to be where I re-connect with the canon storyline... but since we've still got a couple of weeks until Vol 5 is released, I can't really do that now can I? SO, imma just make up my own shit and vaguely tie it in with the canon storyline when it comes out...**

 **NEXT, this chapter is basically an OC Villain introduction segment and I'd like to thank three people for their contributions. The first being oblivionrepublic8z1 who is responsible for most of the IMC OC's and the Apex Predators, barring Firefly. Second is Artorias the Dragonborn who owns Firefly, and the last is Frostbite, who is responsible for the little tag-on scene at the end...**

 **AND FINALLY, this chapter is especially long to make up for the long upload time, so I hope you enjoy**

 **P.S. PLEASE leave a review so I can know how I'm doing**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 15:

 **[Three months prior to the raid on Ralia – IMC Strike Fleet Epsilon– The SC Crusader]**

"You are currently thirty seconds out from the co-ordinates… happy hunting Predators…" came the rough and commanding voice of the person in charge of the mission, Flora Gates… the commanding officer of the large Strike Fleet that was currently warping at max-speed towards a special set of co-ordinates, ones that let them track down the _Silent Prayer._

"Finally, a chance to take down that bastard!" cheered a loud, feminine German accent that echoed around the small command deck of the _SC Crusader_ , one of the many ships that were gunning straight to take out the pride of the Militia. The voice came from the current captain of the ship, Erika Lynn Siegbert, a Captain level Pilot in her own right. She was a brunette, with a short bob cut, owing to how annoying it was to fit her helmet on with anything else, with silver eyes that complimented the dark blue of the IMC Pilot armour, a solid-white beret sitting over her head… although right now she only had one thing on her mind… killing Demon.

Ever since she found out her parents were killed in a Militia raid, she had sworn to be a pain in their ass as long as she was alive, something that came into realisation when her current guardian began her training as a Pilot, managing to make it in at age 15 thanks to the high rank of her care-giver, being 18 years of age now, while the caregiver… was the person that was currently lounging in the chair next to her.

"Erika, how many times do I have to say this... don't make your life revolve around killing him, it won't do you any good!" spoke a calm and motherly French voice next to her. This was the tone of Clara Agard, a middle-aged woman with long and tussled bangs of blonde hair flowing over her shoulders and over the Rifleman(woman) armour that she wore, the classic colour scheme of the IMC not being present, mainly due to the fact that she wasn't even part of the massive conglomerate anymore, settling for a mainly black, with red undercoats as her theme.

"Yeah, that's right Lyn" came a upbeat and heavily American accented voice that was clinging to the chair that was next to the Captains, "It's going to be worse than when those guys back in training tried to hit on you!" joked the voice, being a lot lighter and girlier than the three, owing to the fact that she was a lot shorter than the other three, not even standing at five feet, while the other half is that she just had a naturally energetic voice. Melinda Reyes was the youngest of the group, reaching 16 barely a few weeks ago, with wavey black pig-tails that framed her green eyes and a small scar that ran under her left eye, light blue and white Recon class armour already hugging her frame.

Her timid-ness was mainly due to the fact that this was her first deployment and she didn't want to let anyone down, causing her to nervously fiddle with her dog-tags, turning them over between her thumbs.

"Dammit, you two…" replied Erika, trying not to sound snarky and dismissive when she answered, "I promise that I'll give up this 'obsession' you say I have after this guy's dead! It can't be that hard, considering it's basically going to be a 30 on 1 fight! How can we even lose!"

"It's bad to be cocky…" calmly snapped back Clara, lounging back in her chair and sipping on an open can of beer while she casually played with the safety of a Spitfire that was resting on her lap.

"I'm not cocky!" retorted Erika, fixing Clara with a playful glare, stopping when an alert came up on the screen. "Ok then people, all hands to battle stations! It's time to kill DEMON!"

A roar of approval came from around the ship and she heard as all the consoles were booted up and the weapons systems came online, the panels in front of her Captain's chair filling with lines of stats for the ship. It wasn't long before the main viewing port flashed a brilliant white and half of the screen was filled with the massive scope of a nearby planet, covered in ice. This wasn't what they were looking for, though, what they were looking for was the tiny speck of a ship that was in orbit above the planet's northern pole, the only indication that they had arrived in the right place.

Several flashes blipped to the left of Erika's ship, the lights of the other ships that were warping to support the assault fleet. A massive shadow engulphed the small form of the _SC Crusader_ when the command ship, the _Blistering Revolt_ battleship thundered above, the small ship shuddering slightly in the waves made by the ship's massive boosters. The crackling sound of the comms system echoed around the ship as their commander once again addressed them.

"Prepare ships for interception, we don't want him running!"

That would be her job. 80% of the fleet was made up of small assault cruisers that had the speed to outrun the _Silent Prayer_ easily, while they were accompanied by three battleships that could use the railguns on their hulls to hit anything accurately from 5,000km in open space, and another three heavy cruisers. The one good thing about Demon's ship was that it was a captured IMC vessel, which meant that they had exact specs for everything about it, from the small number of armaments that it had, all the way to complete maps of the lavatory systems.

They had the advantage and they weren't going to let that go anytime soon.

"All battleships, OPEN FIRE!" echoed through the ship, followed by three bright lances of burning gold light as the railguns opened their hatches to fire their massive shells at sub-light speeds, a flash of detonation appearing where the ship was hovering above the planet, a grin beginning to spread over Erika's face as she watched the explosion dissipate, a smouldering ball of shrapnel blazing towards the planet below in a massive fireball.

"Well, that was easy…" muttered Clara, not at all sounding amused by the fact that the battle lasted less than a few seconds. As if her words brought about a response, all the screens on the _SC Crusader_ flickered and turned black, only to be filled with the image of the one they were hunting, Demon. When they wondered how that was possible, it was answered when ten flashes of light blipped on the horizon, the distinctive shape of the _Silent Prayer_ and a few other cruisers showing up.

"Karma's a bitch ain't it…" Clara muttered as she put down her weapon to listen to the message.

"This is just a friendly hello to the assembled IMC fleet that have decided to thankfully make it their job to remove me from existence… I'd like to thank you for so perfectly falling into my trap and giving your lives for the name of freedom on the frontier" Demon spoke through the transmission, his voice not even shifting from the same neutral tone that he started the talk with, his helmet not letting a single bit of emotion into the talk.

"That bastard!" Erika swore as she tried desperately to re-route the power on her ship, failing as only a few of the consoles cut out, while the rest were still showing the transmission.

"Well, now that you haven't warped away just yet, I'd assume my little plan has managed to render your drives completely useless, which is all the more fun for me and my crew!" he said, not at all lacing his voice with any sarcasm or laughter, sounding as impassive and uninterested as he started. Erika quickly checked on the ship's status and swore when she saw that the warp drive was out of commission somehow, an outer source blocking the power. Just when she thought they were done for, her heart leapt when she heard Flora's voice flooded the speaker systems.

"You don't spook us you shithead!" she swore at the Militia Pilot, a few cheers from her crew being quietly heard through the speakers as background noise.

"Oh really…"

"Yeah! We still outnumber you three-to-one! And as far as I can see, you don't even have a battleship to deal with out firepower!"

"Ha… you think your little toys scare me! How do you think I knew that you were hunting me! How do you think I knew that you little cannons have an operational range of 5,000 kilometres, so you wouldn't warp into the gravitational pull of the planet, and that you'll come from this direction as you'd be too stupid to set up multiple warp points and jump straight in like a fox to catch the rabbit before it hopped away… but unlike you, my trap will not fail and you will find that it is the fox that has stumbled into the wolves den!"

Silence followed the transmission as Flora struggled to stutter together a sentence, although she was never given the chance to before Demon cut her off by continuing to speak.

"Look, I'm giving you a chance to give up right now and leave because those railguns have three minutes to charge and I'm not too keen on dying or killing you all… If you don't, then I'm afraid but I can't leave any of you alive"

"BURN IN HELL!" shouted Flora over the comms, her demeaner finally snapping as rage took full control. All that could be heard from Demon was a heavy sigh before he cut the image, restoring all the screens back to how they were.

"Do you think he'll actually attack us?" asked Melinda, her hands jittering slightly in fear.

To answer her question, three massive beams of light erupted from the prow of the _Silent Prayer_ , slamming into one of the escort battleships, hitting the ammunition storage and blowing the entire thing apart, flaming streaks of shrapnel streaking across the viewing port.

"What the hell! That's a transport ship! HOW THE HELL DID IT GET TWO BLOODY RAILGUNS!" shouted Erika, already gunning the _SC Crusader's_ engines to max and warming up the gun battery's. The rest of the IMC fleet responded in kind, the 29 remaining ships hitting full forward speed and heading straight towards the Militia fleet… and straight into a trap.

The second that they got within range of Demon's fleet, the IMC let loose with hundreds of missiles from the racks on their ships, white plumes of smoke streaking straight towards the ships that were sitting still in wait. Just before they were going to hit, only then did Flora realise what was going on. The arrangement of the Militia ships was extremely strange, not being anything that she had seen in ANY combat manuals or in her experience as an Admiral, yet there was one thing she noticed… their ships were filling in the holes in her own fleet's formation.

"ABORT THE MISSION!" she practically screamed across the comm's, her own ship already turning around as fast as its bulk could allow, several of the other closer ship following. When Erika questioned just what in hell was going on, her answer was in the form of each of the Militia ships warping before the missiles hit… and re-appearing right in the middle of the assembled IMC fleet.

It wasn't long before the broad-side batteries on each of the Militia ships opened fire and began absolutely tearing apart the assembled IMC, the larger fleet being completely unprepared due to re-routing all their power to the engines to be able to meet the Militia in close-quarters, not thinking to activate the CQC batteries when they were already so far away. On the _SC Crusader_ , it wasn't a similar story, for the _Silent Prayer_ itself had warped right next to it, with the entire rank upon rank of starboard guns being trained on their position… with none of them firing. The _SC Crusader_ couldn't use any of its smaller ordinance weapons as they would be almost completely ineffective against a ship that was almost twenty times its size, but it still had a trick or two up its sleeve.

 _What the hell is going on…_ Erika wondered to herself as she brought around her main gun to bare, the small cruiser easily manoeuvring to point straight at the Militia ship's hull. The thing about smaller cruisers is that they were built for the soul purpose of battle-ship destruction. They could duck and weave faster than the massive guns could track them and the weapons fitted were built to disable railguns with one or two hits from the main cannon, which fired large-calibre disruption shells that stayed whole through firing and could punch through at least 3 solid feet of Titanium-A battle-plate, sacrificing power for range as it only had an operational range of 200 metres.

But that was more than enough fire-power to be able to take down a Transport class ship… which was all the more confusing when it was fired and the rounds simply detonated on the hull-plating, not doing anything more than slightly denting the plating, none of them noticing the slight shimmer of the ship's shield flaring to stop the damage. She sat in her chair incredulously, not even bothering to issue anymore commands, all the rest of her crew being stunned into silence as well.

She only snapped back into reality when she heard the signature beep of a comms channel opening to them, her finger automatically selecting the accept before she could even think about it… causing the all-too-familiar image of Demon to fill her screen.

"Greetings Captain…" he said simply, Erika filling with rage at how casual he was at a time like this.

"Burn in hell!" She screamed back, hearing a sigh from the other end.

"What else could I expect from the IMC… anyway, I looked over the logs for your ship and a certain line caught my attention… I'm looking for Juggernaut" he said simply, not bothering to explain anything.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about!" snarled back Erika, fixing him with glare.

"I do…" Clara muttered, pressing a few buttons on the console in front of her, the image shifting to her station.

"Ah perfect… it is you Clara" Demon said over the comms, every member of the _SC Crusader_ looking at said woman with incredulous stares.

"How do you know him!" Erika hissed, Clara just holding up a finger to silence her.

"Demon, I thought I told you I never wanted to see you again… I'm finished with the IMC and I don't exactly have a death wish anymore" Clara replied casually, giving his own angry look.

"And yet, I find you in the middle of an IMC fleet that's sole purpose is to remove me…"

"Purely co-incidence…" she fired back, smirking as she did so, earning a small laugh from the Militia Pilot.

"Now why don't I believe you…" he responded, his voice pausing for a few seconds as he tapped a few keys off-screen, a loud chunking sound occurring that shuddered the _SC Crusader_ slightly in its space, far less than when they fired the main cannons. "… against my better judgement, I've decided to let you leave this battle by disabling the warp-limiters so I can kill you some other time, honour in single combat and all that jazz" he mentioned, Clara smirking despite the situation.

"You really are a bastard, you know that!" she shot back, Demon chuckling again.

"And you're an old bugger…" he retorted, earning a smile from Clara.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" Erika screamed, her mind finally snapping back into full combat mode when her mental capacity finally snapped.

"Is this your 'reason' for hunting me?" Demon asked, his image appearing on the screen in front of Erika, the Pilot making a show of stroking where his chin would be if he didn't have a mask on. "I can't say I'm impressed though, she looks like a pile of teenage angst…" he said mockingly, Clara narrowing her eyes at him through the screen.

"Well, she's certainly better than you, that's all I can say!" she shot back, Demon moving his hand over his heart in mock pain.

"That hurt… not really, I do owe you though for not blowing my brain out when I left, which is why you need to leave now, you don't have much time before the other ships notice I haven't blown you out of the sky and your flagships is getting dangerously close" Demon said, looking up for a few seconds at something unseen, Erika looking up from her own screen to see the shape of the _Blistering Revolt_ being peppered by hundreds of streaks of tracer fire, the massive behemoth tanking the damage without looking much worse-for-wear despite that fact, she battleship dishing out its own fire and managing to damage a few of the Militia ships that were firing on her.

"Just leave Demon, it's up to Erika whether or not we leave and I doubt she's gunna even let me explain this one…" Clara ordered, the Militia Pilot drawing his attention towards the screen again.

"Clara… I owe you this much, just leave the god-damned battle before my crew get suspicious of how long the warp EMP is lasting on my starboard guns… you know what'll happen if you stay"

Clara sighed and flipped him off, the comms line cutting and being replaced by a timer, with little under a minute left on it, the veteran having no doubt as to what would happen when it finished.

"Warp us out of here…" Clara muttered, Erika staring at her incredulously as she processed everything.

"What the hell was that…" Erika asked quietly, as if she didn't want to believe what just happened.

"I'll explain it later, just get us out of here!" retorted the elder woman.

"NOT UNTIL YOU EXPLAIN THAT!" Erika shouted, snapping once again in rage, Clara not even looking phased as she just sighed before replying.

"I trained him for a few months before he joined the Militia and before I left the IMC we had an agreement that if we ever met on the battlefield, we'd finally settle if the apprentice was better than the master" explained the woman, looking down with naught but a small amount of shame riddling her features.

"Is that why you're acting all chummy around him!" she accused, looking disgusted.

"Ahhh… guys…" muttered Melinda stuttering incoherently as she pointed at something in fear, neither of the arguing woman paying her any mind.

"I'm not chummy with him! I think he deserves to die as much as you think he does!"

"Guys…"

"THEN WHY WERE YOU TALKING SO CASUALLY!"

"BECAUSE HE LITERALLY HAS A GUN AT OUR HEAD RIGHT NOW!"

"GUYS!" screamed Melinda, everyone instantly going silent for the first time as she snapped, her head practically fuming as she glared at the two arguing ship mates. When they looked at where she was pointing, they finally understood why... they had 10 seconds until he would fire. Erika growled angrily and sat back down in her Captains seat, having got up to yell at Clara, putting on her command headset and opening the channel to her whole ship.

"All stations, open fire at the _Silent Prayer_ , we're not going down without a fight!"

The port guns on the _SC Crusader_ opened up with their fusillades and began battering the _Silent Prayer's_ side, the shields flickering under the constant fire, with the defence breaking after a few seconds of constant barrages, with the hull beginning to take up damage soon after. The small calibre weapons of the IMC ship were built for taking on others of its size, while still being able to at least slightly damage transport class ships… but that didn't exactly happen thanks to the battleship grade armour that was currently installed on the _Silent Prayer_.

"ERIKA!" Clara shouted, but the Captain was far too engrossed in rage, wanting to destroy any remnants of the ship that was in front of her. The main cannon of her ship was loaded once more and she quickly fired it at one of the points where she thought it was vulnerable, smirking victoriously when a massive explosion was seen from under one of its main gun batteries… only for the smoke to clear and show that she had only damaged expendable armour plates that were set to detonate and disperse the impact of her large-calibre shells.

"DAMN YOU TO HELL!" she screamed again, ordering her crew to load the main gun once again… but it was too late, the timer had reached zero and there was no backing out of this one. All as one, the starboard guns of the _Silent Prayer_ moved to track the small target and began their own fusillade, hundreds of rounds of ship destruction pumping from the thirty-odd guns that could get a bead on the smaller IMC vessel.

Erika's ship was rocked back and forth as small explosions rocked the _SC Crusader_ , her armour plating preventing any major damage to her systems, but those thoughts were crushed when several plumes of smoke erupted from the side of the Militia vessel and missiles began streaking straight towards her.

"Evasive manoeuvres!" she shouted over the comms, the engine pushing to max as her ship dodged and weaved out of the paths of the slow-moving missiles, managing to avoid a few, while the others only detonated as glancing shots… up until one managed to slam directly into the ships side and rocked the entire vessel so much so that Erika lost contact with the engine crew. The guns of the _Silent Prayer_ once again managed to find a bead on her location and small explosions began rocking the ship again, several alert messages filling her command screen.

"ERIKA! JUST GET US OUT OF HERE!" Clara shouted once again, her calm demeaner lost in favour of the panic of their one-sided battle against the monster of a ship that they were facing. Said Captain only slammed her fist on the side of her chair as she glared angrily at the warning lights, wishing that it could have gone differently, losing all hope in the battle… until she heard a message come of the speakers again.

"Erika… get out of here, I can give you some time, just make sure to get back to base" came the slightly shaken and determined voice of Flora from the comms, Erika looking out the viewing port to see the _Blistering Revolt_ gunning at over maximum engine capacity straight on a ramming course for the _Silent Prayer_.

"NO!" Erika shouted back into the comms, slamming the engines onto max and trying to get a line back to Flora's ship, "DON'T DO IT FLORA!"

"You've been a great commander and soldier… go out and finish off this bastard for me once we ram his ass!" Flora responded, cutting communication between them so that Erika had no time to retort, said Pilot slamming her fist onto her console in rage, watching as the _Blistering Revolt_ was only around thirty metres from hitting the side of the _Silent Prayer_. As they watched, something strange occurred in the form of small hatches lining the hull of the Militia ship opened, a slight light coming from within, with nothing else happening for some time… until impact was a mere second away.

Just as the bow of the _Blistering Revolt_ aimed straight to plow right into Demon's ship, the battleship actually being half as big as the transport-class ship, although the behemoth never got the chance to show its glory, because it never made contact. When it was far too late to adjust the trajectory, the multiple hatches on the Militia ship erupted with massive plumes of fire coming forth, essentially creating ten massive boosters on the side of the ship… shunting it out of the path of the incoming battleship.

"DAMN IT!" shouted Clara, getting up from her own chair in rage, her demeaner shattered when she saw the horror that was happening... but it was far from over. As the _Silent Prayer_ used the mini-thrusters to manoeuvre directly out of the path of the ship, it also began to turn so that its own bow was facing the battleship that was flying in front of it. The two massive railguns on the Militia ship began glowing a bright blue, something unlike typical railguns, until they fired both beams at a point only a few metres in front of their ship, the two beams intersecting and creating a rather large blob of energy.

"WE NEED TO WARP NOW!" shouted Clara, knowing exactly what was happening. During the brief time she had trained Demon, she figured out just how much of a gear-head he was when she saw the designs he was thinking up for new Warship plans, and she knew exactly what this thing would do if it actually worked. Although, for what would have been the fiftieth time that day, Erika completely ignored the command.

When the blob became roughly the size of a dropship, the beams began moving forward, bringing the blob with it, and directly into the second half of the battleship. When the blob made contact with the IMC ship, it instantly melted straight through the almost 2 metres of solid titanium-A battle plating that was its hull, the blob stopping in the centre of the ship's mass and letting the IMC destroy themselves. As the momentum of the ship brought it across the place of the blob, it continuously melted straight through anything it came into contact with, all the way until it reached the point where the ships reactor was located, melting straight through the even thicker plating protecting that… and causing the entire form of the _Blistering Revolt_ to explode in a massive fireball.

Erika looked on in horror as massive chunks of the formerly great ship floated aimlessly in space, moving slowly from the shockwave of the explosion, the pieces acting as a horrid reminder to what had just transpired. In her shock, she completely failed to notice the fact that the blob was now released from the confines of the lasers and was now shifting and moulding sporadically, looking like a blob of goo on a set of speakers… until the blob itself exploded and sent the pieces of the _Blistering Revolt_ on a collision course straight for the _SC Crusader_.

Erika gripped the steering stick with white knuckles as she gunned the engines to max again and desperately tried to avoid getting hit by any of the debris that were now scything towards them at ridiculous speed, but even her reflexes were not enough. One small piece of debris, around the size of a school desk and as thin as a pane of glass, smashed straight through the bullet-proof viewing glass of the cockpit and decided to embed itself right next to Erika, a splatter of blood staining her chair and anything behind her.

Her screaming wasn't heard over the warning alarms that blared around the ship when the cockpit de-compressed, Clara having to hold onto a nearby railing to stop getting pulled straight into the vacuum of space, several technicians not being as lucky as they flew out the smashed open glass. A literal second after it was smashed, the outer protective shielding came down over the see-through glass, a layer of segmented metal plating, that sealed the breach and let everyone breathe easy… so to speak, of course.

Their brief respite was ruined as the tiny explosions of flak fire peppered their hull, compliments of the _Silent Prayer_ still trying to gun them down. Clara took command, given that she could see Erika passed out in her chair, immediately ringing up the engine crew and ordering a warp immediately. The new she received was that they were damaged, thanks to the fire of the Militia ship, but they could still make a jump, something she risked when she confirmed what she wanted. It was between letting the _Silent Prayer_ destroy them in the next minute, or break into warp-space and risk being brutally pulled apart atom-by-atom… and right now, she was taking the least-deadly option.

Three seconds later, bright white light engulphed the cockpit and she felt the familiar feeling of the warp drives taking effect and as soon as she blinked, they were gone and one of the side-windows of the ship showed a completely differed planet that was next to them. With a heavy sigh, she let herself relax, knowing that Demon wouldn't bother sending any ships after her, but her thoughts once again shifted to her daughter.

As she turned, she saw Erika slumped in her seat with the large shrapnel piece embedded next to her, a large amount of blood covering the metal and turning it red. She sprinted over and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it didn't cut into her chest or do anything truly lethal. Cutting a piece of cloth from her uniform, she pressed it to the wound, calling immediately for a medic and only barely being heard over the alarms that were still blaring overhead.

While she was waiting for the crew to arrive, she looked around at the destruction that her old apprentice had caused, her expression turning grim when she realised just how much time and effort it would take to recover from this. Several of the consoles that were meant to be displaying data were completely destroyed, small fires burning at most of the stations, with almost all of the walls covered in sparking electronics and scorch marks.

 _If I knew this was what you'd turn out to be… I'd have shot you when I had the chance…_

If the person she had once known as a friend caused her to lose the closest thing she had to family… by the gods, she was going to do everything in her power to make sure he would pay, no matter what the cost.

 **[With Demon on the** ** _Silent Prayer_** **]**

"Sir, the rest of the IMC fleet have been destroyed and we're searching the wrecks for survivors and supplies" reported Demon's first-mate, Gremlin, "reactors are running on 2% efficiency after firing the zero-point cannon but they should be back to working levels in under an hour"

"Good, I want a sit-rep on our hull and armaments immediately, then set us on a course back to Harmony, we're needed elsewhere"

"What about the IMC ship that escaped, should we track where it warped to?"

"No… I have a feeling it shall come to us when the time comes…"

 **[One year later – Ophelia Sector –** ** _SC Crusader_** **]**

The armoury of the _SC Crusader_ was one to be marvelled at, especially compared to how large it was in relation to the fact that it was only a light cruiser. Every single piece of the latest up-to-date gear was held within its racks, from electric smoke grenades, to EPG launchers, all the way up to having enough pulse-blades to mark out the entirety of Harmony… or that's what they'd often boast about.

But now, this armoury was looking emptier than ever, lending to the fact that every able-bodied soldier of the 60-man crew that were combat-ready was now waiting on instructions for their latest raid, something they had been waiting for over a year to have the opportunity to fight again… the _Silent Prayer._

Little under an hour ago, their scanners had picked up a distress signal that correlated with previous frequencies that had operated out of the well-known Militia ship, so when they activated their long-ranged scanners, the current Captain was over joyed to find that it was indeed the one they were looking for… and they were spoiling for a fight.

Erika was standing attention on a large raised podium within the War Room of the _SC Crusader_ , standing over a large tactical map of the area of their current objective, several markers indicating points of interest in their attack. Despite going in solo, Erika knew that they'd have a lot better chance of coming out on top with this one, for the pure reason that they had the element of surprise. She had fitted her ship with state-of-the-art cloaking and jamming systems that would stop the _Silent Prayer_ from even seeing them until she'd blown its engines to pieces and was sending in her own troops to begin the assault on the transport ship… although now that she thought about it, they really should have just called it a battleship.

Several other members of the _SC Crusader's_ crew stood around the tac-map, all bar four of them wearing Pilots outfits, two being AI's, one sporting the combat chassis of a Stalker, while the other was an AI for a Reaper, currently being held inside a spare Spectre chassis.

The other two were leaders of the Offensive and Spy squads of the cruiser, the first being General Vile Keller, not an actual military General, just holding the ranking because of his combat efficiency, but he was in control of the 'White Wolves' offensive squad, keeping it under wraps with brutal and cold efficiency, born of his German inheritance and the abuse he received from a drunken father. He wore the classic IMC Grunt Rifleman armour, with dark black hair and amber eyes, standing a rather tall 6' 2" and being a little over forty years of age.

The other was Colonel Angel White, the commander of the 'Phantom Owls' infiltration squad, her short stature at 4' 8" being perfect for stealth missions. What wasn't stealthy though was the fact that she had completely white hair, as well as the lightest blue eyes that you could find on a person, her Chinese heritage not at all explaining the odd colour scheme of her hair, although it did allow her to earn her rather appropriate nickname of 'The Ghost'.

Four of the others standing around the table were wearing various miss-matched amour suits, containing everything from the old Radar Pulse gear, to Holo-Pilot armour, which hinted at their mixed allegiances, hailing from an organisation well-known for their unanimous symbol of the bright-red skull of a ram, the calling card of the Apex Predators.

The first was Lily Claire, or the 'Ruthless Russian Bitch' as everyone would call her, the de-facto leader of the other assembled mercenaries due to the fact that none of them were stupid enough to challenge that fact, knowing they wouldn't walk out with all fingers intact. Her 5' height only added to her lethality as she was, by far, the nimblest of the assembled group, which you would never have figured out by the fact that she carried a massive custom-made Longbow DMR that had enough penetrating power to punch holes in Titan armour.

Next up was the insane one of the group, a pyromaniac by the name of Inigo Irons, an American who seemed normal at first until you got to know him. As anyone could have guessed, he'd personally acquired a Scorch Titan and fitted a massively modified flamethrower as the main gun, preferring its much better anti-infantry capabilities over the Thermite Launcher.

The self-proclaimed 'ladies man' of the group was up next, one Keith Nariko, an American born with far too much ego to be good for him. His flirting usually ended up getting him a knee to the nuts far more than he would let on, but he was a decent fighter when it came down to it… despite the several one-liners he would spew out during the fight.

The last of the Predators around the map was simply known as Firefly, someone who was almost as much of a pyromaniac as Inigo, although he was a bit more on the clean-and-concise side of things in that his missions almost always led to 30 rounds of ammunition used… with 34 dead. His most prominent feature was a large emblem on his shoulder-pad, that of a black angel with a sword cutting clean through its chest, leaving a puddle of blood underneath.

Two of the remainders were veterans of the ship, one being Clara Agard and the other being Melinda Reyes

"Why are you dragging us out here?" spoke Keith, sounding completely uninterested in being there, lounging against the wall and casually flicking across the screen of his phone.

"Because you're getting paid you dumbass, now shape up and listen in!" ordered Lily, flashing the American a savage smile that read 'I'll put your head on a stake' in its intensity. The man simply sighed, turned off his phone and walked back to the briefing table, being met by several stares of annoyance from everyone else.

"As I was saying…" spoke the last of the assembled group, a slight German accent coming through in her speech, a strong commanding tone taking precedence, "we are here for one reason… to kill Demon and end his reign of terror on the frontier"

The speaker was one Erika Seigbert, still the current acting Captain of the _SC Crusader_ and… still on a mission to kill Demon. Her uniform was a lot more decorated now after another year of service in the IMC, several accolades displayed proudly on her pristine dark blue and silver Pilot armour. She had forgone the usual equipment and removed the sleeves as well as the pressurised helmet lock, preferring to wear her Beret over anything else, as well as a snow-white scarf to cover her face. Said visage had significantly more scars from her many battles, as well as a burn mark covering her lower jaw from the run in with the _Silent Prayer_.

Speaking of which, the experience left her with a lot more knowledge of her enemy… and a lot less of her left arm. Said appendage was now a pile of ash thanks to the fire that had engulphed the cockpit of her ship after Demon hit it with his strange weapon. Which left her with what she had now, a state-of-the-art robotic replacement that she would often argue was better than the real thing.

Said appendage currently held a large data-slab that was projecting multiple readings and mappings that all led to one thing… the _Silent Prayer_. Little under an hour ago, they received a distress signal from said Militia vessel that let them pinpoint its exact location, co-incidentally finding it over an IMC base. The messages they sent to warn the base of the threat went unanswered, so, doing the only reasonable thing, Erika scrambled her crew and her ship and set a direct course for the system without second thoughts.

Luckily, she had the added help of the four Apex Predators at her disposal to give her aid in her disposal of the Militia Pilot. After analysing the _Silent Prayer_ hours on end during her spare time, intent on bringing down the behemoth of a ship that had practically wiped out the entire fleet of her old Admiral and much to the chagrin of Clara, she had devised several plans that would allow her significantly smaller vessel to turn it into shrapnel.

When she'd actually done the research, and used some of the moles within the Militia, she finally understood why a transport ship was able to take down two battleships despite not even having any armaments to begin with. A Transport-class ship was bigger than a battleship to begin with, meant to have the capacity to transport around 8000 crew members and a lot more room for supplies and that, being roughly double the size and twice as slow despite the massive engines.

According to her sources, the ship had undergone a year-long refitting job at a reputable engineering academy on the fringes of the Frontier and had only recently been commissioned to fight at the beginning of the last year, instantly becoming a pain in the IMC's side since its first battle. Demon had put battleship-grade armour plating on it, installed an extra reactor for the sole purpose of projecting a high-impact-resistant energy shield and had installed close to 200 point-defence turrets and 40 large-calibre anti-ship guns. To put that into comparison, the _SC Crusader_ could barely field 20 point-defence turrets and 2 anti-ship guns.

The most obvious development was the installation of the two railguns along the transports hull, a battleship barely being able to field one, although one thing still remained a mystery, being the strange blob weapon that had completely and utterly destroyed Flora's _Blistering Revolt_. It apparently hadn't been labelled under the remodelling manifests, as well as several other upgrades that were apparently present.

Although, there were a few things that her moles were able to recover that proved to be far more advantageous for her ship. For one, the ship deployment bays were easily large enough for her to fit the entire _SC Crusader_ inside with room to spare and as far as she knew, there were no anti-personnel turrets inside, so her crew and autonomous troops could quickly disable the guns and bring Demon down… although the 4000 or so troops inside might be a problem.

Her other plan was simply to warp in straight behind the ship and take out her engines before Demon could manoeuvre her into a battle position as she knew there were no shields there because of the residual heat from the engines and with the added firepower of another main cannon she installed on her own ship, her two high-power shells would easily be able to destroy them. The four axial thrusters on the sides of the ship wouldn't be a problem as they couldn't be used in space as they ran off oxygen-fuelled combustion and she guessed that Demon wouldn't risk the breathing oxygen he had on the ship just to turn it around.

"So… have you all been over the briefings?" Erika asked, receiving nods all around, Lily being the first to respond.

"The Apex Predators are at your disposal…" she barked out as she went into a salute, the other mercenaries not even bothering.

"We'll have the bugger burnt alive as soon as we're in!" Inigo jeered, playing with a lighter in his palms, flicking the flame on and off as he watched it with glee. The other two predators just sighed, the two AI's saluting as well, Clara and Melinda doing the same. Erika nodded and turned back around to the command console in the War Room, flicking multiple switches as she monitored her warp travel.

"Alright people, we have three minutes until warp-break… ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS!" she roared over the comms, the others in the room with her walking off, except for Clara and Melinda. The first walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, a look of concern passing over her features.

"Erika, you seriously need to lighten up… you can't let this consume you"

"I don't need your pity Clara, I know perfectly well what I'm doing…" Erika spat back, putting down her data-slate and walking off down the hallway towards the main control room, both of her companions following.

"Erika, didn't Commander Valerie say that Demons… well… you know… dead?" Melinda muttered loud enough for Erika to hear, the Captain sighing at the response.

"Melinda, I think you and I both know that he isn't dead yet…" Erika shot back as she entered the cockpit, the rest of the crew standing from their stations to salute before getting back to work.

"I was kinda hoping he was…" she muttered again, fiddling with her thumbs. Over the year that Melinda had been an active Pilot, her skills had improved since she had originally passed boot camp, although… to say the least, she was still a terrible fighter. She had barely passed the basic training with a 69.5% efficiency rating, with her skills as an excellent medical officer helping her over the line. Her shooting was… interesting when she was under pressure, her aim being almost 100% during firing drills, but became a hell of a lot less when faced with actual combat.

The worst part of her combat skills, though, was her Titan piloting. Her father had gifted her one of his old war relics, the very first prototype model of a Ronin Chassis Titan, still fitted with the old nuclear reactors and with an advanced Titan OS dubbed Relagi by her father, an AI in its own right, with enough processing power to stand up to Piloted Titans without any assistance.

This led her to be rather fearful outlook on trying to face up against the literal deadliest person in the entire Militia, although she was still determined to give it her best shot.

"Just promise me you'll take a break after we finish this…" Clara ordered to Erika, grabbing her arm in a vice grip and refusing to let go despite much protest.

"Grrr… fine… after all, it won't take long"

 **[Ten Minutes later – SC Crusader – Orbit above IMC base on Ice Planet (*cough* Hoth *cough*)]**

Erika gritted her teeth as yet another explosion rocked her ship as a missile detonated against the hull, an alarm alerting her to the fact that one of the storage rooms had been compromised.

"God-damned pirates…" swore Erika as she looked out the viewing port at several small pirate frigates that were currently trying their best to take out the IMC vessel with the limited armaments that they had… and then there was the case of the pirates having a commandeered Light Cruiser of their own that was tearing the _SC Crusader_ to pieces.

They had tried to make peaceful communication with the looters, only to receive a rather lengthy message in German stating for her to go shove a finger… well, up a place she wouldn't mention, followed by a little present in the form a missile salvo.

"Where's the damned _Silent Prayer!_ " she swore again, looking around and hoping that any of her crew members would be able to answer the question. None offered and she just sighed as she once again manoeuvred the ship to avoid a low-speed torpedo.

"Erika, not to be repeating myself from last time… but I really think we should warp out of here" Clara offered from her command console, tapping several buttons to send a return volley from the _SC Crusader's_ own missile tubes. Erika gritted her teeth and considered just what she had left. The tip-off had been a bust and they were now fresh out of leads to find the _Silent Prayer_ and like last time, she didn't want to sacrifice the lives of her crew over her own selfish needs… last time was enough of a sacrifice for her to learn her lesson.

"Engine crews, warp us back to IMC space" she commanded, the familiar sensation of the warping beginning to overtake her senses… only something was off this time.

"CAPTAIN! MASSIVE ENERGY SURGE OFF THE STARBOARD BOW!" shouted one of her support crew, her eyes instantly searching for what they were talking about, seeing a surging mass of some strange energy off to her right, the lines in her vision warping and bending around it strangely. She didn't have any time to even think before the _SC Crusader_ was shunted into the anomaly, several of the Pirate ships being pulled in by the disturbance, leaving only one or two of the smaller ships left over...

 **[Remnant – Continent of Anime – Town of Kuroyuri]**

Ren sighed as the head of the Nuckelavee hit the ground, the remains of its disfigured and malformed body beginning to disintegrate into a large plume of darkness, the practical smoke stack of dust beginning to drift off in the wind. His village was avenged… and most importantly, so was his family.

"I'm glad that's over…" Ruby put in, sheathing Crescent Rose as Ren moved over to help up Nora, Jaune still recovering from the fight by resting on the new and improved version of Crocea Mors. He now wore a more… protective set of armour, having full arm and hand covers now, on top of his chestplate and pauldrons. His G2A4 was slung over his shoulder with several empty magazines laying strewn around the battleground, the rifle now painted with a familiar looking red and gold colour-scheme that made it look a lot like a certain red-heads own weapon.

Her thoughts were jarred when she felt a loud shuddering in the ground, her other teammates tensing as well, hoping to whoever was out there that it wasn't another Grimm, their prayers being answered when they saw their two Titans come charging through the centre of town, Rosaline riding on the back of Sid.

They stopped a few metres away from Ruby and both knelt down, letting Rosaline smoothly jump off, the girl walking over to Ruby with a slight limp.

"Well, it looks like I'm a bit late to the party…" Rosaline joked while looking at the disintegrating Grimm corpse.

"Sid and the other Titan really would have helped" Ruby muttered, Rosaline nodding in agreement.

"It just sucks that those monkey Grimm things showed up RIGHT as that thing did… I'm sure it's just a co-incidence though!"

Hundreds of kilometres away, a slightly less than sane Pilot coughed incoherently for seemingly no reason, coughing so hard that he hit his head on a side railing and was promptly knocked out, only muttering 'co-incidence my ass' before he passed out.

"Yeah… but at least now we can get back on our way to Mistral" Ruby said as she looked back over to see Nora, Ren and Jaune talking quietly, all of them looking dull and worn-out.

"I think we might need a rest though" Rosaline put in, Ruby silently agreeing… although there was still one problem… a problem that they were reminded of as soon as they heard him coughing. Both Rosaline and Ruby looked back over to see Qrow still propped up against the wall they left him on, holding his side in an attempt to stop the pain of the poison from his fight with a crazy scorpion assassin, while trying to take a swig of his whisky without coughing it back up instantly.

The girls quickly ran over to check on him, Rosaline taking a pill from her pocket and feeding it to him, his coughing stopping after a while before he fell to sleep a minute later. During their travels, only a day or two before arriving in Kuroyuri, Rosaline had woken up to find a small bottle of pills lying next to her sleeping bag, labelled 'feed it to him' with a strange symbol next to it. She had consulted the drunk and after he had confirmed they were legit after seeing the symbol, she had been feeding them to him every time he had a large fit, the pills seeming to help him through the poison and sent him to sleep in under a minute… something that was a god-send when dealing with a drunk who couldn't stop coughing every minute or two.

"Yeah, a rest might not be an option…" Ruby stated, speaking the hard truth, both girls knowing that they might not have enough time to get Qrow there safely and be able to save him. They both left him there to rest and walked back over to the group, only seeing Ren and Nora there, without Jaune anymore.

"Where'd blondie go?" Rosaline asked, trying to lighten up the situation, Nora cracking a tiny smile while Ren was as clinical as ever.

"We saw a beowolf off near the entrance so he volunteered to go take care of it"

"Don't they always travel in packs?" Ruby questioned, knowing the answer anyways.

"Jaune has the most aura left out of all of us, so if he runs into trouble then he can just run back here and let the Titans take care of it" Nora answered this time, smiling as she picked up Maghild, "and we get to pummel more of them and get revenge for Renny!"

Ren sighed slightly at her choice of words but decided to go with it anyway, sheathing the ornate dagger that his father gave to him and walking back over to pick up StormFlower. His worries subsided for the day, knowing that they'd at least have respite until tomorrow when they'd need to continue their trek to Mistal. After all, it wasn't as if they couldn't handle a measly beowolf pack.

 **[With Jaune – Entrance to Kuroyuri]**

Luckily for the knight and Huntsman in training, there was only one beowolf… the only problem was that it didn't exactly behave the way that he'd expect of one. The first thing was that it had some sort of torn and mangled brown cloth wrapped around its right arm, a faded black symbol being present on the clothing, although he couldn't see any of it from this far away. The next was that it wasn't crouched on all-fours like he'd come to expect of the canine creatures, instead standing on its hind legs and lumbering with laboured steps, although even on its back legs it wouldn't have stood much over six foot.

He had snuck up on it, surprising, since he'd of thought that it'd smell the residual negative emotions from his fight with the Nuckelavee, although the most blindingly scary problem reared its head when he tried to attack it. Jaune jumped with lightning speed and sent the point of his sword straight into his neck, an action that would have been praised had anyone been watching… only it never hit home.

Just as it was about to sink into the Grimm's neck… it was deflected by a dark brown shield that surrounded the beast's fur… which looked exactly the same as aura. It took Jaune a moment to actually comprehend what had happened, staring at his sword like it was now a blow-up toy or something, only noticing that he was now face-to-face with a creature of darkness after it began to growl in discontent.

" **Now that wasn't very nice of you…** " it growled out, rearing back a claw ready to attack, Jaune bringing his sword up to block the strike… only to be sent flying by the power behind the stroke, crashing into a nearby building and shattering the supports, bringing the remainder of the structure down on himself and sending up a plume of dust.

" **It's been a while since I've had a taste of fresh meat…** "


	16. A big, robotic Sister!

**Well, well, well... after [Insert set of excuses here] I haven't been able to work on this chapter much... wait, why did my explanation get deleted.**

 **Tempest: Because your excuses are bullshit?**

 **Hey! I'm being serious when I say that stuff, give me a break!**

 **Tempest: SURE you are... look, just get this shit over and done with, I haven't shown up properly in a chapter for AGES, so get working, your fans are getting tired of the procrastinating, so stop milling until Season 5 and just get going on your own OC story or something like that!**

 **Piss off Tempest, I'm just... pacing the story!**

 **Tempest: *cough* bullshit *cough* oh sorry, just had something in my throat, I'm allergic to dumbasses**

 **Look... I had shit to do and a Comicon to go to and body-pillows to buy!**

 **Tempest: Please tell me you didn't actually buy one... I'd disown you as my owner and leave the story for good...**

 **No, I didn't actually buy one... mainly because I didn't have enough money... and to disown me, don't you kinda need to own me in the first place?**

 **Tempest: Not legally... but anyway, *clears throat* Onwards onto another chapter loyal viewers! PLEASE leave a review or PM this shitty author to tell him just how shitty he is doing, or for the odd occasion where he isn't doing a shit job!**

 **HEY! That's my line!**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 16:

"What do you mean it's not possible!" came the very irate and annoyed voice of one Raven Branwen as she slammed her fist onto the counter of the shop she was in. It was small, even by village standards, being that she couldn't even turn around, lest her blade accidentally knock over the items on display and she would be forced to fork over cash to replace them.

"I am saying, as much as I regret to do so, that even my skill cannot possible fulfil the request that you placed" replied a calm and collected male voice, their tone never wavering, the person harbouring an accent that Raven would place as Japanese had she still been in her old universe. He sounded old, and as much as he would deny, he was FAR passed being old, having survived for a LOT longer than should have been humanely possible… which gave a hint to his true descent.

"It has been a month since I filled it in… SO WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER!" the irate woman retorted, looking down-right enraged at the moment, something that was not often brought out from her normally stoic poise.

"Because, Miss Raven, I tried everything I possible could, but the metal just can't be contorted to those specifications and still be utilised as an effective weapon… It was pushing my limits when you requested that blade to be made strong enough to not snap under a two-tonne weight, but you must understand, even this is ridiculous for a person of your standards… I've only ever forged a blade that could challenge this designs strength once before, and I know for a fact that I shall ever be able to do so again"

"And yet you managed to make my odachi, did you not?" Raven spoke, becoming slightly less annoyed as he spoke, admitting to the fact that the schemes Demon and her had devised were a bit far-fetched… but that still shouldn't be a problem for HIM of all people.

"Forging the pure-dust blade was one of my finest moments, but this… the metal is too brittle to bend properly at this size and I can't even melt it down to forge it properly! My best men can't heat it up enough and cutting it straight from the block would result in an unclean consistency… there is nothing on this world that can heat that metal to the specifications"

"Just do it… you and I both know that it is possible, you're just too prideful to start knowing the chances of failure is 'too high' for you"

The man she was speaking to flinched under the slight jab at his work and he shifted slightly from where he was behind the counter, walking silently over to a side door and pushing it open, remaining unseen for over a minute before coming back out with a large wooden case. It was far from ordinary, being made of the darkest wood Raven had ever seen, also being coated in what she could only assume to be pure gold guessing by the texture, yet that raised a lot more questions… she had assumed that the element didn't exist on Remnant, so how did this guy manage to get some.

It looked old to say the least, several pieces of the wood flaking off from age or wear, she couldn't tell, although it didn't look any less sturdy than what she assumed it would look like, were it new. When he placed it on the table it shook the fittings, hinting at its weight, then carefully undid two clasps on the sides, both only being a small coil of rope keeping the two halves of the case from opening. As the box opened, Raven swore she saw a faint light emanating from whatever was inside, the lid blocking her view of it, although that paled to the fact of what she saw on the top of the lid now that she got a good view of it… the distinctive etching of a mythical beast, a phoenix to be exact, intricately carved into the wood with pure gold making it stand out.

But, the thing that shocked her the most was what was the tiniest of things that rested on the beast's chest… an onyx black rose symbol, one that she knew all too well, with wings of crimson floating from either side.

"Where did you get this…" she muttered, taking a step back, almost as if it would make the thing disappear.

"It has been passed down through my family from generation to generation… as you would know, my family swore fealty to yours long before you arrived here and when this was passed down, it was given with a simple message… 'a Branwen will need this someday, when the aid you present falls short, when it is a time of great need, only then shall this be used'… and I believe it is that time"

Raven smirked before leaning back on the nearby wall, fixing him with an amused glare.

"Cut the shit Masamune, you and I both know you've been itching to use it…" Raven stated, seeing the ghost of a smirk form on the man's face, although no sound was made when he closed the wooden case once more, the dim light fading in the dull illumination of the shop. Whenever she was here, she would most often be in the back forge, making repairs and slight modifications to her dust-blade, and every time, she would see him look longingly up at a cloth-covered box in the corner, one that just so happened to have exactly the same shape as this one.

"I cannot deny that I have waited for this for a… long time" responded the man, bowing to Raven as he moved it into the back storeroom again, coming back out with mechanical drawings scrawled across several papyrus scrolls.

"These designs can be used on that blade, I know it is possible, it will just take more time…"

"So, they can be done?"

"… with the correct payment, yes…" he replied while smirking to himself, causing Raven to narrow her eyes and slam her fist on the counter.

"I PAYED YOU A SMALL FORTUNE ALREADY!" Raven roared, her eyebrow twitching in rage.

"And yet, I still see nothing that can compensate me for giving you the blade…" the man replied as calm as ever, crossing his arms and engaging in an impromptu staring contest with the woman, something she would never admit that he won.

"So, it's not money you're after then?"

"How perceptive of you Miss Branwen, should I go around back and bake you a celebratory cake?" he replied again with as much sarcasm as possible, causing the woman's eyebrow to raise again as she rubbed the bridge of her nose while sighing heavily, taking a few seconds to respond.

"You are one of the few people I know that I wouldn't kill for a comment like that…"

"Nice to know that you think so highly of me" he dryly commented back, sounding impatient in his words while he began to tap his foot. Raven noticed and let herself have a small smirk at his situation.

"Fine, I think I might have something you would want… and I want it incorporated into the blade as well" she announced while reaching behind her, opening a small portal, reaching through and pulling out a large object wrapped in a ripped and torn cloth, closing the portal as she put it on the counter with a large slam. It was roughly the size of a 40mm shell if it was compared to something Masamune reached forward and peeked under the cloth, his eyes going wide when he saw what was underneath.

"Where did you get this!" he asked, sounding more like an order than anything else, the hard glare on his features illuminate by a strange purple glow coming from the object.

"A girl can have her secrets…" Raven replied with even more of a smirk over her features, Masamune fixing her with a hard glare for what seemed like a minute, neither of them wishing to budge from their stances, until he let out raucus laughter that filled the shop.

"Miss Branwen, you must understand, this is why I came into servitude of your family, you certainly are one lively bunch… the weapon shall be ready in exactly thirty days, for now, you shall have to use the odachi I repaired…"

With a quick motion, he pulled the object off the table and went around to the back again, coming back in literally a second with an entirely new case in his arms. He quickly put it on the counter and opened it, revealing a new-ish looking odachi which Raven recognised as the one Demon broke. She took it and thanked him, throwing it through another portal she opened, closing it quickly a second after.

 **[On CRDL's Bullhead to Mistral]**

"Look, all I'm saying is that whenever we are around him weird stuff happens!" Weiss argued, Cardin raising his eyebrow at the statement.

"What do you mean weird stuff, it can't be that bad!" he tried to argue, right before a blood red portal opened up on the ceiling of the Bullhead, right above Demon's sleeping figure, spitting out a massive odachi that stabbed into the ground a mere millimetre away from cutting his neck, before it disappeared and left them all speechless.

Cardin looked up to Weiss who, congrats to her, looked entirely unfazed, gesturing to the weapon and making an 'I told you so' face with every inch of her being, Cardin just giving up and going back to another conversation topic.

 **[Back at the shop]**

"I still don't see how you can break my weapons… I make them so that they're not meant to be broken, so could you at least tell me how it was damaged so I can prevent this later on"

"I would tell you if I knew, but I never did get a chance to ask…"

"Ask? I thought you were the one using these?"

"Oh please, I wouldn't replace the dust-blades you made for me even with that blade out back… this was made for my son"

At those words, Masamune's eyes widened, his breathing stopping for a second.

"You never mentioned this to me before…"

"It never came up…"

"What is his name!"

"Why does that…"

"JUST TELL ME!" snapped Masamune, slamming his fist on the table in rage, Raven recoiling slightly as she had never seen him so angry before.

"He has a long name, but he is Hawk first and foremost"

Masamune quipped something in an unknown language as he practically sprinted back to the room behind the shop, a series of loud bangs sounding before becoming eerily quiet. Just as Raven was about to enquire, he busted back through the door with a small pendant, grabbing it and quickly pressing it into the palms of her hands.

"Give this to him the next time you see him…" he said cryptically, quickly moving from behind the counter to the front of the shop, turning the sign over to 'closed' and walking back to the side room, shouting one last thing before he slammed the door shut behind him.

"Nineteen days, it shall be done in nineteen days!"

She didn't have any time to argue before she blinked and suddenly found herself standing outside on the street in front of the shop, wondering how in the world she had got there. Looking around to see that it was still nightime, she noticed that the streets were completely bare in the town she was in, normal considering that there was a strict curfew that ensured that everyone was asleep by dark… but of course, the local authorities weren't really in a position to argue with one of the deadliest women on Remnant.

She took out her odachi and with a quick flick of the blade, opened a portal large enough to send her through. The thing about her Semblance was that it didn't normally work as a transporter, its uses being far more efficient in combat than menial tasks.

She could create small, hand-sized portals at will and link them to each other as long as she knew both locations, which meant she could create one, stab her blade through it, and coincidentally ensure that the enemies head was skewered a moment later while she was still several metres away. But, since her dust-blades allowed for Semblance enhancement, she could create much larger portals that could transport her and other large objects through with little error… which came with practice to say the least.

The number of watermelons that were sacrificed to perfect it for humane travel… it should not have ever had to come to that. Onto the current topic, though, she put on her helmet and stepped through the rift finding herself standing behind the hunched body of her brother. She looked around silently and noticed she was in a long-abandoned town that she had seen previously… she believed Kuroyuri was its proper name.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of gunfire, her masked face turning to see four kids facing off against what looked to be an Alpha Beowolf, until she noticed something rather off about it. The beast took a hit, but the shot was reflected from a brown-ish barrier that surrounded it, the woman instantly recognising who they were facing off against.

"I never expected Him to be here…" she muttered, catching the attention of Qrow, who was so focused on the fight that he didn't notice her arrive.

"Holy crap Raven! How many times have I told you to not sneak up on me!" he almost shouted, not even causing a reaction in the stoic woman.

"And how many times have I told you to give up alcohol?" she shot back, not bothering to look down as she was analysing the fight, feeling a pang of pain as her eyes glanced over the small scythe-wielding girl that was peppering away at the beast with sniper fire, her mind wandering to her days back in STRQ with her very own hooded scythe-wielder.

"I'll give up when I die!" Qrow replied, taking a swig as if to emphasize the point, only to cough it up as he clutched his side in pain.

"And on that day, I shall stop appearing unannounced…" she replied, seeing a small smirk form on her brother's face out of the corner of her eye. Before they could continue talking, the watched as the four kids jumped back from the Beowolf, leaving it standing there in confusion for a second, before a volley of rockets from a hidden Titan slammed into it, leaving a smoke-screen, followed by the massive mech emptying the entire remaining ammunition in its chaingun into the haze.

But, alas, the beast was unharmed as it jumped out and began attacking the children again, forcing them into a rushed defence as they struggled to block or dodge the massive claws on the beast.

"You're not going to step in?" Qrow asked, obviously annoyed that his sister wasn't doing a damn thing when the four of them were obviously losing… and badly at that. He added another one to the list when Rosaline came into the fray and began fighting the wolf with her spectral wings in full action, the constructs struggling to block against the power behind the beast's strikes.

"He will not kill children… only severely injure and maim" she replied, seemingly finished with her analysis as her head snapped in a random direction, her odachi opening a portal a split-second afterwards.

"I really question how we're related sometimes…" he muttered, Raven only flicking him in the head before disappearing in her portal, off to another unknown location. Qrow sighed as he looked over to where she had shown interest, his eyes widening when he saw just what was there. In the sky, roughly 1km away, was two interestingly designed Airships, with propellers and fans instead of the jet-engines he'd come to expect, although its cargo was far more interesting.

Hanging from the bottom of the lead ship was a Titan, one he'd seen during the defence of Beacon, with an extremely large scythe locked onto its back. It seemed to be inactive as it approached, until it was inside the city limits, when the lights and optics on the Stryder chassis lit up, the mech reaching and pulling the locked melee weapon off its back and cutting the lines that held it in place, letting it drop to the ground with a crash, the machine boosting straight towards the fights with the kids.

The beast was way too busy fighting to notice the machine that was practically gliding across the ground as its dashes propelled it at speeds far faster than what should have been possible with something that size, although it did notice when a gravitationally-enhanced scythe slammed into its side and propelled it through three separate buildings, the mech stepping in front of the five students in a defensive stance.

The hatch on the front opened and a figure in gold and white armour stepped out, Qrow recognising it as one of the Pilot's that worked with Demon.

"Get to safety guys, I've got this covered!" yelled the figure, the five others turning to him with various expressions, mostly of tire and relief.

"How did you get here Josh!" Rosaline exclaimed, the man looking down from his perch on the Titan to see her.

"I was sent ahead of the others to find you! It just sucks I only arrived halfway through the fight!"

"What do you mean halfway! You sent him through three buildings!" Ruby exclaimed, sheathing Crescent Rose and raising an eyebrow. Josh only smirked in return and closed the hatch of the Titan, sending a new spurt of fuel through the dash-lines and causing two bouts of fire to erupt out of the exhausts on the back of the mech.

"A little birdy told me that it would take a hell of a lot more than that to take him down… just get Qrow on the ships and we'll be leaving" the Pilot replied cryptically, a certain ravenette sneezing a fair distance away for no apparent reason. Josh pulsed more energy through the weapons systems and blue electricity surrounded the scythe, the Titan's servo's humming in excitement.

"I still don't see how that beowolf could have survived that…" Vanessa spoke into the cockpit, causing Josh to let out a light chuckle.

"If I've learnt something tin these last few months, it's that Branwen's never give warnings lightly… we might need the other two Titan's for this"

Josh finished off his words by clicking on the extra comms frequencies and connected to Sid, as well as the new Titan.

"Yo, Sid, we need covering fire from the XO-16 and… other Titan, just use that oversized rifle as well" Josh ordered over the mic, seeing green lights appear from both mechs to show that they had received the message.

"Sid standing at the ready… Subjugate, Intimidate and Destroy protocols engaged, Safety off…" the Atlas spoke, ejecting its current clip from its rifle and feeding through a new one, the missile pods on its back also warming up as several of the pods hatches opened, tracing lasers marking towards where the beowolf was thrown off to.

"Ion JS-3024 standing by, powering up Splitter Rifle" the newer Titan spoke, the rotating clip on its gun spinning up while a pack on its back perked above its right shoulder, a bright glow illuminating the mech's hull.

As the five other students stood in confusion, their fears were confirmed when they saw a dark figure walking out of the smoke, not seeing a beowolf this time, instead the figure of a tall man taking his place. He wore a dark brown over-cloak that had several cuts running through its length which showed a dark black armour underneath. His left shoulder was covered in a shining silver pauldron that covered to his elbow, a wolf's head emblazoned in gold upon it, with a gauntlet covering his forearm and fingers, the armour not being replicated for his other appendage.

Leather armour covered the rest of his body, being held in place by deep black belts, although the most notable feature was a deep crimson cloth that wrapped over his right shoulder and over his mouth and nose, blocking any view of the man's features, while a tri-corn metal helmet covered the top of his head, piercing red eyes being the only thing they could see in his outfit.

His right arm was dropped to his side, dragging an ancient-looking greatsword that was covered in rust and grime, the man obviously not tending to the weapon as he should have… but that didn't stop it from literally cutting into the road with its weight and sharpness, carving a trench wherever he dragged it. In the other hand, he held an ornate dagger with a far more sinister design, looking more like a sickle than a proper fighting-dagger, with a handle made from what looked to be an uncut wooden branch, while the blade was shining an intense silver, obviously being far more well-kept than the other weapon.

He walked forward until he stood a fair distance from the Titan, looking up into the cockpit and taking a deep bow, somehow swinging his greatsword one-handed so that it was pointed directly at where Josh would be, while crossing his dagger over the blade in challenge, the man waiting for a response as he stood on the street with his cloak fluttering behind in a light breeze.

Josh wasn't quite sure how to react, so he spun Vanessa's scythe around a few times before performing his own bow with the mech, his adversary apparently being satisfied and dropping his stance, holding the greatsword aloft over his shoulder while sprinting forward in challenge, apparently unaware or unfazed by the three towering mechs that were there to fight.

When he reached within range, Josh swung with a low swing, something that should have been unavoidable… if the man didn't stab his dagger into the ground and used it to archor him to the ground and pull him up short of the swing, tearing it out a second later and continuing with his attack.

Before the man could reach striking distance with his own greatsword, Sid released a fuselage from his XO-15 and the bullets ripped up the ground around the man, the target being almost completely unfazed as well. He dodged them with relative ease and jumped over another swing made by Josh, twirling with speed that should have been unattainable with a weapon of his size, an even more confusing fact being that when he pulled out of the spin,he threw several throwing knives into the barrel of the chaingun and caused it to jam.

 **"** **I challenged you for honourable combat you worm! Call off your dogs or I shall just kill you where you stand!"** The man spat out, a deep gruff tone considering that they looked like a human, although Josh still felt uneasy at the tone… there was no way that was natural, even if it was distorted by his cloth scarf.

The Pilot thought for a second until he realised a single fact… it was a single man, albeit who probably could call themselves a Huntsman, against a 15-foot tall mech of destruction that also happened to have a 16-foot tall gravitationally-enhanced scythe at its disposal.

"Sid and… other Titan, get with the others and evac, I can hold him off" he ordered, the other Titans moving off to follow the six other humans that were currently limping off to the Airships that had landed in the massive main square and were ushering them aboard.

 **"** **Pfft… running… just what I would expect from a worm"**

Josh groaned and dashed back to give him some distance for the fight, swinging the scythe in a massive downward arc, aiming next to the man so as to not brutally murder him. The target noticed this the instant it happened and instead brought up his greatsword, swinging it to meet the attack… and stopping the scythe's swing dead. Josh could only stare in awe, as did the others that were watching, as the man stood there and blocked a swing from a literal war-mech that could crush people like they were cockroaches.

Josh cringed and dashed back again, trying to assess the situation and realising that the scythe was far too unwieldy to make it effective if he could simply block his attacks. With severe hesitation, he opened up the hatch and grabbed his rifle, jumping to the ground, much to the chagrin of Vanessa.

"Ummm… have you suddenly become a lot more idiot than before? I mean, I know I want you dead and all, but I kinda figured you'd at least do it in a fair fight or something… not with this damned suicide run"

"Your scythe can't take him down, the chaingun's out of action, I don't even know what that new Titan can do and the only chance I have against him is with CQC…" Josh explained, the AI knowing exactly what he meant, knowing also that he was right.

"Well, just jump on the Airship, I can stop him from getting to you before you leave"

"Then you'd die…" Josh muttered, the AI actually stopping at the words, not at all understanding what they meant.

"That is correct, but I am simply an AI, I am expendable…"

"Yeah right, I've known you long enough to know that what you just said ain't true… I've met the real you, so I don't exactly have reason to let you die anytime soon"

"Real… me?" she stuttered, being even more shocked by where this conversation was going.

"You were cloned from the brain waves of someone I knew, so to me… well… let's just say, you're more valuable than I ever gave you credit for"

"AND YOU'RE TELLING THIS TO ME NOW! AFTER YOU ABANDONED ME FOR YOUR PROJECT AND SOLD ME OFF FOR MONEY!"

"To protect you…"

"BULLSHIT!" she swore loudly, not really producing the reaction she wanted, as Josh just looked down at the ground in shame.

"I couldn't have you dying for a second time because of me… you were far safer with Demon"

"What do you…" she started, completely engrossed in the conversation path… until she began to hear the faint sound of sobs through his helmet, which stopped her from even uttering a sound.

"Command Input: Follow mode, no OS initiation: Variation Full-cut" Josh muttered, Vanessa feeling her control over the Stryder Titan vanishing as she was put on standby, much like when a Pilot had taken control, only this time without the human input. She felt the chassis turn around with a quick spin and lumbered over and stood behind Sid, locking her in place afterwards. Vanessa wanted to call out or reprimand the Pilot for doing so, but she couldn't even access her comms anymore… she was in limbo.

On the other hand, Josh quickly took his mind off the past and switched his rifle into its hand-and-a-half sword, coating it in Ice Dust to ensure it wouldn't hurt the man, turning to see his opponent patiently awaiting his return to the battle.

 **"** **A sad story, I have seen many in the same situation before… but unfortunately, I cannot simply yield, else I would lose to someone undeserving of my time"**

"Undeserving… NO… don't mock me like that" Josh spoke back before charging forward with a warcry, fully intent on winning this battle. If Demon had taught him anything, it was that anyone threatening your friends was threatening you… and it was only smart to respond in-kind, with a blade to the neck and a bullet to the skull. Well… for Josh, it wasn't exactly that, but that was how Demon had put it, so he'd stick with it until he came up with something catchier.

The first blow was made when the man stabbed his knife into the ground and used it as a pivot point to swing his massive greatsword in spin attack, almost catching Josh off-guard, if he hadn't activated his parkour-kit to jump above the weapon and drop two Satchel charges next to him, detonating them as soon as he had fell out of range. He wasted no time in spinning back around, being lucky to do so as he used his blade to reflect the same wicked dagger that was intent on sticking into his forehead.

The blade dinged of his own and he had to jump back as the man dashed through the smoke with ridiculous agility and made his own attack, one which caught Josh off-guard and slammed him into the ground. The man simply stood there and grabbed the dagger out of the air before it even hit the ground, going down to stab Josh, only to have the weapon reflected into the ground. The Pilot capitalised and kicked out the man's legs, causing him to fall, then booted him in the face as he kicked himself up off the ground.

The man wasn't about to be outdone, so, using his dagger again, he anchored himself into the ground and used it to send himself flying across the ground like he had jets, narrowly missing Josh, the Pilot thanking his own reflexes, until he was nailed in the back by the broad end of a greatsword as his attacker had anchored himself to the ground mid-flight and swung back around.

Josh barely had any time to recover as he was once again trying to dodge ridiculously fast attacks. He threw down a grenade to try and give himself a tiny amount of respite, thanking whatever entity that was out there that he dived to the side to dodge, letting him at least breathe easy for a second or two. When the explosion cleared, he saw his adversary holding the greatsword in two hands, the point making an invisible line towards his head.

He didn't have any time before his opponent practically leapt forward, the Pilot bringing his blade up to block, only for it to be flicked to the side and for the point to slam into his chest… and instantly breaking his aura. Luckily, thanks to the break, it was deflected to the side and only cut a shallow gash over his stomach, just beneath his armoured chest piece. The brown-cloaked man flying past with what Josh could practically feel as a victorious smirk.

Being that he had struck a blow, the attacker gave a small pause for Josh to re-coup, seeing him reach to his chest and pull some cloth over to cover the gash. Josh hissed at the pain and pushed it to the side, eyeing off his opponent with new hate… and wishing that he could actually use his Semblance.

The main problem he faced was that he could only heal if he had Aura… and with that gone, he didn't really have any healing options now, which meant he had to be a bit conservative from here on out.

 **"** **Ready to face your death, worm?"** the man mocked, resting his giant blade on his shoulder, only to be surprised himself when Josh dived forward with newfound strength and tried with a straight stab that was aimed right for his eyes. The man was barely able to bring his greatsword to block and suddenly found himself eye-to-helmet with the Pilot, their swords both locked in a clash of strength.

The man was struggling to understand how he could possibly be having trouble against this worm when he couldn't possibly even stand a chance against him in strength, especially without Aura, but yet he was struggling to break out of the lock. He tried to reach for his dagger for a quick rib-stab, only to find it kicked away by his opponent.

"Do you know the funny thing about Aura…" Josh muttered, only bringing confusion to his opponent.

 **"** **I doubt this talk will bring you any advantage"**

"It doesn't negate damage, it merely tries to re-allocate it, so when introduced to a bludgeoning source with nowhere else to go, it will deal the most damage as it can't stop the damage getting through to your body" Josh recounted, remembering something Demon and him tested out a while back. With enough bludgeoning power and nowhere for the person to fly, an opponent could be knocked out even at full Aura after one or two hits.

 **"** **This is even more useless… you do not even have any bludgeoning implements"**

Josh only smiled as he slowly shifted his hands for a specific selector switch on the side of his weapon, wondering just how quickly he could take down this guy… until a specific line he'd heard came to mind.

"Well, there's only one thing I can say in this situation… bitch, it's also a gun!" he roared as he thumbed the selector switch, converting the blade into its carbine form and trapping his opponents blade in between the two bayonets as they tried to re-from, successfully managing to form a clamp with them, although the motors in the weapon severely protested if the incessant gear-grinding noise was anything to go off.

He took advantage of his opponent's surprise and twisted the blade out of the man's grip, pointing the stock of his gun at his face and pulling the trigger, causing the recoil to slam him in the face and bounce of his Aura… only for Josh to follow up by going full-auto and continuously slam it into their face so much that he fell back onto the ground from the impacts.

"Thank you…" Josh muttered to himself as he fell to the floor himself from tire, ejecting the spent clip from his rifle and kissing it for being his saving grace… until he heard the scraping of metal and looked up to see his opponent standing up with his dagger in-hand.

 **"** **Do not count me out with such a pathetic tactic"** snarled the cloaked man, kneeling down to stab at Josh's exposed chest… if he wasn't pummelled into the ground with his Aura broken by the fist of a certain Stryder Titan who had snuck up next to him with the aid of an experimental Titan-cloak module. Josh looked down into the crater and was satisfied to see the man lying unmoving at the bottom, with only the slightest of shifting indicating that he was still breathing.

The Pilot looked up to the Titan and only briefly thought about how the hell she broke through the encoding locks that he had activated, a certain insane shotgun-wielding Pilot sneezing 'shitting writing' several kilometres away… until he just gave up and gave her a thumb's up in thanks, resting his head on the ground to try and recover.

"What was that back there…" Vanessa asked, crouching down so that her optics could get a good view of Josh, casually stepping on top of the man from before in case he made another comeback.

"I'll explain later…" Josh answered, trying to get up, only for the Titan to stop him with a single finger, the Pilot looking up into her optics with a slight amount of annoyance, only for that to fade when he heard how sad she sounded with her next words.

"Please… I need to know" she said softly, causing Josh to soften up and take off his helmet, looking her straight into the eyes like he would any other person, Vanessa seeing that his eyes were tinged red from a small number of tears.

"I just… I couldn't… let my sister die again…"


	17. It's about god-damned time!

**Tempest: Well, well, well, what do we have here! A fanfiction account already logged in and an entire document mine for the taking! Could I ask for anything more!... well, I might just have to change a few things here and there and then it'd be an actual good story!**

 **HEY! Tempest, what the hell are you doing here again! I thought the last chapter was the last time you'd be showing up in these!**

 **Tempest: Hell no! Your friends thought I was so good that they stole your laptop and edited your documents, so now I'm showing up in literally all the chapters to come! Plus, I'm not even showing up in this chapter except in one line so cut me a break, I deserve some screen-time for being the BEST character in this damn fanfiction... after Yang, of course**

 **I could, you know, edit you out?**

 **Tempest: No you... wait, you can actually do that... SHIT! I DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR THIS! JAEGER MADE ME DO IT!**

 **Well, you know what, I couldn't really be bothered anyway with all this proof-reading shit**

 **Tempest: OH REALLY! Is that why it's been like a month since the last chapter!**

 **NO... I've had other shit to do, mostly work and shit like that as well as building sufficient hype for RWBY Volume 5, adding a few extra hours to my Skyrim play-through, trying to scrounge together money for Destiny 2 and Shadow of War and all that jazz**

 **Tempest: Soooo... now that that's over, we can expect a regular update schedule?**

 **...**

 **Tempest: Didn't think so... but anyway, DAMN was that Volume 5 episode was BEAST! My little sun-dragon was a badass, as always and [Redacted]... wait... why was my 5 minute long spiel cut out! That took effort to write!**

 **Because I don't want the readers getting spoilers if they haven't watched it yet... but anyway, for anyone who understands this... bouncy man is bouncy, RoseGarden can burn in hell and Drunkle is best Uncle... and without further adieu, ONTO THE NEXT CHAPTER!**

 **Tempest: AND REMEMBER TO LEAVE A REVIEW OF PM!**

 **Seriously... stop stealing my lines...**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 17:

"Your… sister?" stuttered Vanessa, her massive Titan body visibly shaking with her words. In her shock, she didn't notice that the man that was pinned under her foot was, in fact, trying to shove her off him, but his strength from before seemed to have faded and she didn't even budge.

"It's… hard to explain, so just let us get to a better place" Josh responded, slowly lifting himself up off the ground with his rifle, the weapon buckling slightly as one of the blade fittings was slightly loose from the fight. Vanessa picked him up, much to his chagrin, only then realising that the man beneath her had woken up, picking him up as well.

"How are you even standing?" chimed Vanessa, the man in her grasps still battering away at the Titan's hands, somehow producing almost noticeable dents with each hit. The man didn't respond but kept up at it, the Titan just ignoring it and going back to Josh. As she moved over to where the two Mistrali Airships had landed, she tried to rack her memory for any previous knowledge of her existence, before Josh was designated as her Pilot.

As her memory was brought up from her initial day of installation, it was the same as ever before. She was Vanessa… and AI developed by a sub-sect of Hammond Industries that was taken by the Militia and used for their Pilot program, to provide her unwavering assistance to a Pilot and give them a reason to come back to the ship in safe hands. Which led to her assignment to one Josh Dakkery, an emotionally unstable Grunt Captain that had recently come back having his parents burnt alive in front of him. His brother had defected to the Apex Predators and it was logged that he had a sister, but she was labelled as deceased, several years before she was implemented into the Militia roster.

She tried to access any files on his sister, but it came up mostly blank, bar for a few lines of details. The girl had died at around the age of 24, apparently already being enlisted in the Militia and was set for a promotion to Pilot literally a week after her death, although it didn't leave a name, only showing that it was redacted, as was so for most of the other basic information.

That shouldn't have been the case though… Militia personnel were obliged to list all other family members and all relevant information, so for her to be allowed in without providing it, or the even less likely case that it was removed by the higher-ups, then she was truly a strange thing.

"It doesn't make sense…" Vanessa concluded, Josh figuring out just what she was doing by her tone of voice.

"Let me guess, they removed your name from the records? Figures… but as I said, I'll tell you about it later, let's just get to Mistral"

Vanessa grudgingly accepted and stomped over to the Airship, attaching herself to the cords on the underside with the other two Titans, and letting Josh off into the main compartment, lifting the restrained man up after so that they could deal with him as well, only releasing her grip on him after they had bound his hands, legs, mouth and taken all the weapons that were on him. After that, they were on their way, and apparently, it wasn't a very long trip to Mistral.

Up on the main deck of the ship, the students all took their time to recover from the fight, Ren and Nora sitting with their leg over the side as they looked out over the horizon. Jaune and Ruby were lying semi-asleep in their respective seats, while Josh busied himself by taking his restrained opponent to a containment cell, noticing with slight annoyance that he had started to bite through his gag and the ropes around his hands had become semi-loose with his constant trying to break free.

Josh just sighed and threw him into a cell that they luckily had on standyby, with two Mistrali Police officers guarding him, the Pilot turning to see a slightly irate Rosaline leaning against the closest wall tapping her feet in annoyance.

"Yes?" he questioned as he passed her, heading back to the main compartment and picking up a repair toolbox that had been stationed near the engines, intending on using it on his rifle.

"Why are you here, I thought you were staying back in Vale?" she asked, sounding almost annoyed, although her voice was confused as well, not bothering to hide how she felt.

"We only recently realised just how bad the situation for Mistral will be, so we decided to bring in the big guns… Yang and the others are on an Airship headed straight for Mistral as we speak and we've got someone heading around to pick Weiss and Blake back up and bring them back as well"

"How did you manage to get an Airship! We spent days trying to find one until we settled on walking!"

"Apparently, the Atlesian Military had one of their Airships heading to Mistral so we were allowed to jump on one, but the others sent me ahead to try and find you guys so that we waisted as little time as possible… and Tempest constantly yelled at me for 'not being relevant to the plot' or something like that"

Rosaline let out a small laugh and sat down next to Josh when they entered the main hold, both of them letting a proper smile form on their faces when they saw Nora resting her head on Ren's shoulder as they travelled, neither wanting to interrupt the warm moment, so they sat down on the opposite side, Josh getting to work on fixing up his damaged weapon.

"So how exactly did you manage to find us?" Rosaline asked, stretching her limbs as she looked out on the setting sun, glad that their days of walking were finally over.

"Would you believe me if I told you it was because of CRDL?"

"The ass-hats that kept on teasing Velvet?" Rosaline instantly replied, already knowing the exact team he was talking about.

"Yeah, those ones… well anyway, turns out, they're only shitheads because Cardin's dad was supposedly killed by Faunus so he had some bad-blood between them, until he found out that it was his mother who killed him… but long story short, he gave me a tip-off about a group of travellers who were braving the wilds to try and get to Mistral and I headed to the most likely place you'd rest up, the closest abandoned town along your road to the city"

"So, you found us completely by chance?" she said slowly, mulling over the idea of just what would have happened if he hadn't of arrived when he had.

"Is it bad to say yes?"

Rosaline just sighed and went back to looking out on the sunset, her smile fading as the crushing feeling of their massive task found its way onto her shoulders once more.

"How are we going to do it?"

"Do what?" asked Josh, not quite catching her meaning.

"How can we possible beat them? They took Pyrrha and Demon, as well as heaps more students and even a few trained Huntsmen and Huntresses… how can our tiny crew of soldiers possibly stand up to that much power?"

Josh couldn't quite come up with a legitimate response, mainly because he had been thinking about it as well. Sure, they could call on some of the Atlesian Military due to favours with saving P.E.N.N.Y and most of the festival with managing to stop the enemies control over the Paladin's and Atlesian Knights… but still, they had no clue where the enemy were and they couldn't exactly predict when they would strike. They really didn't have any plan to combat the attack, the greatest chance being holing the entirety of Mistral in a Military deadlock and enforcing martial law, stopping anyone and anything getting in and out of the country, which would give them some form of readiness against the enemy, but they still were at the disadvantage.

If they gave the designs for some of the Militia's advanced weaponry, making the Paladin's far more of an effective fighting force and gearing Mistral's civilians with weapon training and supplies, then they could effectively stand against an attack, but then it would become a far more political matter, with Vale and Vacuo gunning for deals to be made so that their own nations would be safe, making all-out war a far more viable end, which would just be playing right into the enemies hand anyway… they truly were out of options… but even so, they would do everything in their power to make sure that they wouldn't lose again.

"I don't know… but no matter what, no matter how badly we end up losing… there's always the slightest of a chance that someone will look down on us and feel pity, and a miracle might just be enough to pull us through…"

 **[Several kilometres away – with CRDL and the others]**

"…and that was how I managed to successfully decapitate a Beowolf with a spoon!" remarked Sky, grinning widely as Dove and Russel were enraptured with the story, while Cardin, Weiss and Blake just raised their eyebrows in disbelief.

"Sky, you can hardly hit an Ursa with that sword of yours! How did you manage to jam it into its eye again?" Cardin retorted, not quite understanding how the arguably least capable member of his team managed to perform the feat.

"I already said, I was so enraged by the fact that it killed my sensei and burned down my dojo that I just automatically went to stab it with the closest thing I could find, which was the spoon!"

"But…" began Weiss, intent on going on one of her famous rants, much like the ones she would go on whenever Nora told her VASTLY far-fetched stories, only to stop when she heard a small bump from in front of her. She looked down with the others to see that Neo had woken up from her slumber, rubbing her eyes slowly as she tried to get her bearings, letting out a yawn that even she had to admit was adorable before stretching out her arms.

Weiss didn't even say anything before Neo went wide-eyed as she saw Demon lying on the floor next to her, his breathing shallow and his arm reaching out in her direction, a small amount of pink tinting her cheeks as she tried to comprehend what had happened. She could briefly remember what had happened, thinking back to how their Bullhead was hit by something. Demon had tried to save her, a smart thing considering her Mirror Rift wouldn't work when she couldn't get a clear head, but the shrapnel had shredded her Aura in seconds until she was bleeding on the floor.

She had laid on the ground for a while, the others still being unconscious from the crash, but she still couldn't move for some reason, her limbs just wouldn't listen to what she told them to do. Her wounds were colouring the ground red and it wasn't until Demon noticed her and started bandaging her up that she found any kind of salvation from the pain.

Her mind, at the time, couldn't comprehend much as she kept slipping in and out of consciousness from the blood-loss and she had tried to give him an indication that she was ok, more for encouragement than to actually show she was alright, but as she did she must have knocked something, because she felt a sharp pain in her chest and she passed out… and everything from there on out was just pure blackness.

Neo looked over to the others, being slightly confused at the fact that another Beacon team was here, one she didn't recognise well enough even though she was ordered to read over files on everyone attending the tournament, but she was more confused at two minor details… the first being the massive odachi that was stuck into the Bullhead right next to Demons head. When she read the file on him for the first time, it had read that he was proficient in the use of the blade, but in the last two bouts in the tournament, he barely used it, then after that she hadn't even seen him with one when they returned to Vale after Beacon fell.

The next, and probably most pressing matter, was his mask. He was still wearing one, luckily or else the others in the ship might not be alive, although it DEFINITELY wasn't the one she remembered him wearing.

Rather than the faceplate that was almost an exact replica of his mother's, it was now a flat plate, almost like the one she had seen worn by the White Fang Lieutenant when he had 'hired' them for his plan. The entire thing was a darkened bone white construct that looked like rotted bone if she had to compare it to anything, but that was probably the least defining feature. The eye-slits that were oval orbs that looked sunken into the mask showed nothing of what was behind them, showing an endless void of nothingness when she looked into them, causing a shiver to shoot up her spine.

The lower part of the mask that covered his mouth looked damaged and worn, but it was in a strangely specific way. A crack ran horizontally across where his mouth would have been, a jagged scar that looked like a large set of spiked teeth, the smallest glow of a blaring red seeping through the cracks. To finish off his visage were two small horns that sat at the very top of the mask, two curved things that were no longer than an inch but still looked sharp enough to piece flesh with, the bone constructs pointing outwards at a curved angle and not looking anywhere near fully-developed.

As she gazed at it longer, she felt a strange feeling from within her stomach, something like when she felt hungry, a primal urge that could be filled with one thing, but she couldn't quite place what it was exactly, although for some reason she felt the tiniest traces of anger… not towards anything specific, just towards everything in general.

"We don't know what it is either…" deadpanned Blake, noticing the assassin's confusion at his new look, Neo looking up at the others, silently searching for more answers.

"It doesn't come off either, so we don't even know if he's alright" Weiss put in as well, Neo nodding in affirmation before trying herself, seeing that it was, in fact, somehow staying attached to his face despite not having any visible straps of mechanisms that would stop it from simply falling off. The assassin looked over to Blake and her hands began making various signals, something Blake quickly recognised as sign language and slowly began translating.

" _How long have I been out for?"_

"You've been asleep for almost a day now… we were ambushed by White Fang and you blacked out after we hit" explained the Faunus, Neo slowly nodding to show she understood, although she did notice that Blake flinched slightly when she mentioned the next part, "Demon managed to… take care of the problem, and he managed to get enough first-aid for you that the people that came to pick us up could pull you through properly"

Neo wasn't sure whether to believe what she'd said, as she did see that one of the other people in the craft, specifically the large teen sitting next to Weiss with a mace lying next to him get a stiletto in the foot when he looked like he was going to say something, which didn't go unnoticed by the assassin but she let it slide. Acting as though that was all the information she needed, Neo nodded and went back to inspecting the wounds on Demon… until she remembered her own.

The strangest thing occurred though when she looked to inspect her own… she didn't have any. No matter where she looked on her body, the only damage done was to here clothing, which she was slightly annoyed at, yet it was overwhelmed by the complete disbelief that she had already healed by now. Sure, if her Aura was full, the wounds she had received would heal in a few seconds at worst, but her Aura had been shattered and there was no way that it had already recharged AND healed her by now.

When her thoughts were clouded in doubt, she felt a something in her mind, like another person trying to tap in, but all they could do was knock and not enter. It only felt like a dull throbbing, but it was nothing like a head-ache or anything of the kind… it was weird to say the least.

" _Hello, is anyone there?"_ she thought into the deep confines of her mind, not at all expecting an answer… so when one came it was definitely a shock. Without any warning at all, everything around her suddenly froze, Weiss' mouth stopping mid-sentence as she was quietly scolding the boy next to her for an unknown deed, the thick locks of hair that were blowing in a slight wind on Blake's head pausing in their quest to obey the laws of Physics and settle on her back.

 **"** **You share the blood…"** came a dark and foreboding voice in her head, like a thousand people all talking at once, the true origin of the sound impossible to find.

 _"_ _Who are you!"_ she quickly thought again, not at all understanding what was going on.

 **"** **That is of no importance… right this wrong and I shall be gone"**

 _"_ _What wrong! What have I done!"_

 **"** **Not you… the idiotic Master of mine decided to save your life and almost killed himself in the process… right now, he is feeding off a life-essence that cannot sustain him as only a shard is present… reject what he has given you and the balance shall be returned…"**

She still had no idea what in the world was going on and the stupid vague-ness of this voice didn't help either, but it came into focus as soon as the voice made its next move. Feeling as though she was in a haze, her vision slightly darkened and her head tilted slightly to Demon, seeing a dark miasma of Aura surrounding him, the thick mist roiling around his body slowly, but every now and again she saw that a few wisps would break off from the main mass and slowly float over to her. **[Think of it like what happens in Skyrim when you absorb a Dragon Soul, except completely black]**

The collections of darkness floated over in an unseen wind until they were absorbed into a visibly multi-coloured Aura that surrounded her. Neo brought her own palm up to her eyes and saw a strange shield surrounding her, the colour of said construct shifting constantly between a dark chocolate brown, to a sweet pink, then to a creamy white. It took a few moments of concentration for it to snap inn her line of thought that this was, in fact, her aura. But… that meant that what she saw earlier was Demon's Aura?

Her eyes snapped back to look at his lying form and she could still see what could only be described as a shroud of darkness constantly moving around him, never settling in one place and seeking to latch onto anything that was close. Just to confirm, she looked around, seeing an almost blinding white Aura from Weiss and a regal orange Aura surrounding the kid next to her, with a burning yellow surrounding Sun as she glanced over him.

So… if Demon's Aura looked this bad, then just what is wrong with him?

 **"** **Several 'things' are wrong with him, but the most pressing is that he needs what he gave to you… so if you would"**

" _Look, I have no clue who or what you are, so if you could PLEASE just explain this to me!"_

 **"** **Demonic entity blah blah blah… that's the basics, so just deal with it and walk over and touch his heart… I promise you I'm not going to do anything bad to him"**

Neo didn't exactly like the fact that the voice wasn't explaining anything, and that it had off-handily commented that it was a DEMONIC ENTITY, but complied anyway, shifting herself closer to Demon and watching as the dark miasma around him seemed to gravitate towards her instinctively, taking that as a sign that she was doing something right. She reached forward with her hand tentatively and pressed it against the front of his chestplate, feeling a strange connection suddenly surge through her limb and up into her heart.

She felt… something, being pulled from her, the strength in her body suddenly fading alarmingly fast, a small amount of pain shocking through her body as she saw the strange miasma around Demon beginning to dampen down so that it was more pressed against his skin like it was with everyone else's aura.

 **"** **We shall talk again, and thank you for the assist"**

The girl couldn't exactly form a response through the strange event that was occurring but managed to nod regardless, waiting until she no longer felt the strange connection to pull her hand away, watching as the world around her slowly came back up to speed, the conversation continuing as if nothing had happened. Neo looked around strangely for a few seconds as if searching for an explanation, something which didn't go unnoticed by Weiss.

"… Neo, are you alright?"

It took her a moment to respond but she ended by smiling and nodding enthusiastically, right as Demon's breathing began to silently quicken. It took a few minutes for him to come fully around, but when he did, he took a sharp intake of breath and sat ramrod straight in his spot, looking around frenzied until he realised where he was. He sighed heavily and laid back on the ground, letting his arms flail to the sides. He carelessly reached out and grabbed onto the odachi that was embedded next to his head, flicked it into its katana length and slipped it onto a small sheath on his back.

"Why is team CRDL here?" he asked, getting a response from Cardin in a few moments.

"Because we came to save your ass, so in your own words, you could at least say thanks!" the leader of CRDL growled, still pissed at everything Demon had done back in Beacon, not at all letting go anything he had done, even after turning over a new leaf. Demon just sighed heavily and sat up again to look Cardin in the eyes, noticing how he flinched when their eyes met, something which unbeknownst to him was because of the two pits of void that were the eyes of his masks, which seemed to produce an air of unease whenever Cardin looked into them.

"I still haven't heard a thank you from you for all the shit I've done!"

"What have you ever done!"

"NOT beat you face in after you bullied the Faunus at the school?"

Cardin grumbled and sat back down, Weiss smirking at Demon putting him in his place. The Pilot stared at the ceiling for a bit, letting his beating heart and laboured breath calm down a bit, until a mop of pink and brown glomped down onto him from nowhere and decided to try and send him back to sleep through hugs... which was unfortunate since her arms didn't even reach all the way around his back.

"Thank the gods you're ok…" Demon muttered as he returned the gesture, a warm sense of happiness flowing through him finally after finding out his efforts weren't in vein and he managed to save her from dying. He smiled and once again felt the regret he did for bringing his friends into his own problems… none of them deserved anything that came their way, least of all Neo… but now, they could at least rest for a small while before their next big bout… unless the Battle for Haven had already begun and they were just running late.

His smile faded as he saw tears begin to taint Neo's chin, turning to a frown as she began to cry into his chest with earnest. Demon could only smile faintly as he pulled her closer, trying and succeeding to give her a sense of safety.

He could honestly say that it killed him to see her crying, as much as it did anyone else he knew, but as he sat there in her warm embrace, he started to feel something else. He couldn't quite put a finger on just what it was until he remembered the last time he felt this way… and then it hit him like a freight train. It was a sense that everything was right in the world, that no matter what he'd have something to hold onto, that he could commit the vastest of sins and nothing bad would happen, that he was at home right where he was… the only problem was… the last time he'd felt this way… was with Rosaline.

 _"_ _Shit… no… what the hell is going on!"_

Demon's arms stiffened up the tiniest bit which went unnoticed by the small package in his arms, but to him he had frozen solid like a rock and he refused to even think about anything else until he figured out just what the hell he was doing. When he thought of Rosaline, he got the same warm feeling he did as always, the feeling when he knew that she'd have his back and he'd have hers and that they both knew exactly what the other was thinking… but he felt the same way about Neo.

 _"_ _This… This can't be right!"_

He couldn't exactly refute the argument that he didn't care for Neo because it was kinda obvious right now, but he had never thought that he would begin to think of her like 'that'. When he thought over it, he definitely didn't think of her like a sister, as much as he wished that's what it was, but he couldn't just let this happen when he was already with Rosaline.

 _"_ _Ahhh… shit… why can't life just make sense for once"_

As thousands of things flashed before his mind, all of which were trying to fix the shitstorm that would no-doubt occur if he were indeed to like two girls at once, none of them ending in any way that involved him still having a head, but they were shunted out when he felt a small tapping on the front of his helmet. His eyes opened to see the enrapturing orbs that belonged to the very source of his troubles, one pink, one brown, and both looking at him with a hint of confusion, although all he could think of was how they looked like they were drilling into his soul, silently judging him for the very thoughts that plagued his mind moments ago.

"Y-yes?" he stuttered, coughing afterwards to clear his throat and hopefully dissolve any tension in the air. Neo just frowned and brought up her scroll which already had a message written out.

'What's wrong?' she had asked, Demon swearing internally at just how easy he was to read, even when he had a mask covering his face… wait… didn't that come off during the crash? He tentatively reached up and had a small heart attack when he felt two horns coming down from the top of his mask, instead of the usual clasp that kept it in place. He ran a hand over the faceplate and felt a completely different surface from the one he was used to, Pilot or not, but there was something else about it, a strange thing that happened when he moved his clawed gauntlet across it… he could actually FEEL it.

When he tested it again, he was shocked to find that he could feel the slightest of sensations and actually track where his fingers were touching. His eyes darted around and noticed that he didn't have his HUD active anymore, yet he could see a strange outline around each of the people that were with him in the Bullhead. The faintest of whites could be seen to outline Weiss, while Sun had a faint gold tint behind him.

He reached behind his helmet to activate where the HUD would be, only to find a strange bit of mask that felt almost like cartilage compared to the rest of it. When he pressed it in, his vision darkened and all the HUD features came back into focus… only they were much different now. His Aura bar was in the same place, but instead of the usual sharp outline of the technological blue, it was surrounded by a barely visible black while the actual bar was a deep red. His ammo counters were in the same place, although they were now a shifting bone-white that looked more like mist than actual solid virtual particles.

And last was the reticule, which, if he was being honest, looked nothing like it did before. Instead of the usual greyed in lines that would track the general area where the bullets would go, it was now a misty red circle that was pulsing every few seconds which seemed to follow wherever his eyes were, rather than where he was actually aiming, something he tested out when he pulled out his Wingman for a second and noticing that it didn't even flinch when he aimed it around the cabin… although Cardin did when he pointed it at him for a second. He wasn't to annoyed that the reticule was gone, after all, he never really used it with the ridiculous recoil that his _Jackhammer_ and chaingun had.

Although, that did let him find out the actual reason for the reticule. When he looked directly at someone it would instantly surround them and red patches would appear at what he knew were critical points in their defence, such as throats, eyes, ribs and any places where armour, natural or otherwise, were not in place. He instantly remembered back when he had first activated his Semblance, during the battle with HNTR in the Vital festival and it was exactly the same as that, only he didn't even have to attack for it to be working. Come to think of it, though… after the first use, whenever he used it again, the red markings never came back…

"How long have I been wearing this?" Demon asked, Neo breaking her confusion as she realised that it wasn't her that was the problem (teehee), although she herself didn't know the answer so she left that to the others. Blake shrugged when he looked her way, as did every single person in the entire Bullhead… except Sun for some reason.

"Well, I stole your helmet when you were still in our last Bullhead, so I'd say sometime between then and now?" answered the monkey faunus as he haphazardly swung his legs back and forth on his chair, stopping the second he felt Demon's gaze swing his way. He felt a chill go up his spine which was unaided by the void-eyes in his mask and his throat suddenly felt dry without any warning.

"Is it just me or did it just get stuffy in here?" Sun asked awkwardly as he tugged on his collar, avoiding eye-contact with Demon as much as possible, which was all for nothing when he began to speak.

"You… took off my helmet…" Demon said calmly, not betraying any emotions through his voice, but that didn't need to happen for Sun to know he was filled with rage.

"Ummm… Weiss and Blake told me that you showed them your face, so I decided to jump in on the fun?" quickly retorted the monkey, Demon completely ignoring him as he continued to talk.

"Do you at least have it now?" asked the Pilot, Sun chuckling nervously, which prompted Demon to casually stand up from his spot and walk slowly over to the faunus who was shuffling as far away as he could in the small cabin space.

"Guys? A little help?" he said hopefully, looking around for anyone who was willing to help him out… unfortunately for him, none of them had a death-wish at the current moment.

"I've killed people for less than that… so be grateful that I'm settling for something a little less permanent…"

"Which is…"

"Breaking your legs…"

"Oh ok… WAIT WHAT!"

In the cockpit of the Bullhead they were travelling in, the pilot thanked whoever was out there that he wasn't seeing what was happening because the next ten minutes of his flight was filled with the sickening sound of cracking bones followed by a scream that sounded much like a twelve-year-old girl seeing her first horror movie… and he knew for a fact, it wasn't any of the girls in the back that were the culprit.

 **[Twelve hours later – Haven Academy landing pads]**

The doors of the Bullhead opened slowly and the pilot grimaced as he braced himself for the mess that undoubtedly filled the compartment… only for all of the students to walk out unperturbed, leaving only a blonde monkey boy in the back compartment who was walking with a very noticeable limp. The pilot cocked an eyebrow as the faunus climbed out the back, holding onto one of his arms that was hanging rather limply.

"Never… touch… a dude's mask" whispered the monkey faunus as he passed, only serving to confuse the pilot even more before he shambled off after the group. Back with Demon and the others, they were traversing the rather small landing platform over to the entrance of the actual Academy, team CRDL muttering among themselves while Weiss and Blake conversed with Demon.

"So where do we go now? We don't even know if Yang and the others got here? And what about Ruby and the rest of JNPR?" Weiss questioned, only causing Demon to let out a small chuckle.

"Look Snow Angel, what did I tell you when we were heading into Menagerie?"

"Ummm? To stop acting like everyone was there to kill me and to stop giving you death stares?" she answered, causing Demon to pause for a second as she realised that she was, in fact, actually correct.

"Well, that's beside the point, but the other thing that I said!"

"Well other than that… OH GODS NO!" she swore, going wide-eyed and punching him in the side causing him to stagger a bit.

"What does she mean by that?" Blake asked, Demon smiling at her in return.

"Well… info-gathering 101! Everyone knows everything at a bar!" he announced proudly as he abruptly turned a corner and pushed in two large hinged doors… which co-incidentally led them right into a nearby bar. Weiss groaned loudly and Blake just sighed, while CRDL roared in approval and took up a table, completely forgetting about why they were here. Sun staggered in and didn't even bother noticing where they were and decided it was a better plan to stick with CRDL despite their faunus-bullying nature than it was to travel with Demon.

"You can't be serious?" Blake asked, cocking an eyebrow when both Demon AND Weiss turned to her.

"You'd be surprised…" they said at exactly the same time, both of them either not noticing that the other had said it or chose to ignore it as they both went up to the bar and ordered a drink, Demon taking a rather strong-looking beer while Weiss went with water. Demon went to drink it… until he realised he still had no idea how to take his mask off, which resulted in a few seconds of viciously tugging on the sides before giving up and addressing the barkeep.

"So… I need to find someone…" he said vaguely, the barkeep looking at him impassively as he rested on his arm against the counter. Demon waited for a few seconds before shifting a few lien notes onto the table that were quickly scooped up by the barkeep without any of the other patrons noticing.

"Description…" he said instantly, busying himself as he cleaned a few steins off-handily.

"Drunken Huntsman with a buster-sword and tendency for moonshine and whisky, drinks on-the-rocks like no tomorrow and doesn't stop until he's shit-faced in the morning… oh, and he wears way too many rings for a single man" Demon explained, watching as both Weiss and Blake once again began to question him.

"How can he possibly find him with such a terrible…" Weiss began, stopping when the barkeep answered.

"Had a few come through in the last couple of days, it's hard to remember…" came his reply, Demon sighing and passing a few notes over the counter again, which were quickly taken again.

"He came in here on his own near midday when I don't get much traffic, until some kid came along and they talked for a bit and he ended up emptying his wallet on good-quality whisky before the kid stopped him and they went off somewhere…"

A few more notes were passed over the table.

"… they're in 'The Bannered Mare' inn over in the upper district near the front of the Academy, third story up, third door on the left"

Demon thanked him and stood up, walking over to the door while Weiss and Blake stood flabbergasted trying to comprehend what just happened. Neo just booped both of them on the nose for absolutely no reason to break their stupor and skipped off after Demon. The two Huntresses in training ran to catch up and followed him through the streets of Mistral until they came across the place they were looking for. They walked in and simply told the attendant at the front desk they were already booked for a room and were meeting up with people already there. She didn't seem to buy into it but didn't really want to argue against them when she saw the demonic look of Demon (pun intended) and let them pass.

After three flights of stairs, Demon stopped and told Weiss, Blake and Neo to go ahead without him, replying with 'I need to figure out some things' when they asked why.

"You can't be serious…" Weiss's shrill voice scolded him, Demon flinching slightly as he realised that the very people they were trying to meet might hear them early.

"I… just… this mask doesn't seem to come off and they won't even know it's me!" he said quickly, trying to come up with a legitimate excuse… if it wasn't for the fact that it disintegrated right after he said it like a Grimm would after dying.

 _"_ _OH COME ON! JUST ONCE GIVE ME A BREAK!"_

Weiss crossed her arms and Demon shied back a bit, rubbing his neck nervously.

"Ummm…"

Blake sighed and walking off down the hall, standing outside the door and gesturing for Weiss to follow the two of them going up and doing something while Demon was distracted, mostly on focusing on how the hell he was going to survive meeting Rosaline again. He couldn't come up with anything without being distracted, until he saw Neo in front of him with her head tilted at a wield angle while she shyly fidgeted with her feet and was slowly typing something into her scroll. He waited for a bit and slowly accepted the scroll when she offered it, the thoughts shooting through his head stopping him from noticing the light pink blush that was dusting her cheeks.

 _'_ _There's something I need to tell you…'_ read the message, Demon not quite getting the intended meaning as he nodded that he had read it, Neo taking it back and typing something quickly, looking at it for a few moments before shaking her head and burrowing back in, typing slowly and methodically as she formulated a response. It took almost a minute, but before she could hand it over, they both heard a colossal noise from down the hall and turned to see Ruby glomping Weiss against the wall as she practically nailed her a foot in with her Semblance and was currently nuzzling against her with a happy smile plastered on her face.

"YOU CAME BACK WEISS!" she cheered, the late-heiress' face flushing red as she realised the situation she was in.

"Get off me you dolt!" she said, her face slowly turning a crimson that could rival Ruby's cloak. (Because that analogy is completely original…)

"You might want to let her breath a bit sis, she might faint from the big reunion…" Demon said as he decided to give Weiss some breathing room, even though he doubted she didn't enjoy the reunion herself. Ruby's head snapped up and her eyes went wide when she saw who it was, her smile widening even more as she jumped off Weiss and rocketed down the corridor and tackling him into the wall with her Semblance.

"I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" she cried as she hugged him as tight as she could, Demon smiling and patting her on the head, his own heart filling with warmness after missing her for months.

"BLAKE!" cried Yang as she tackled her faunus partner to the floor up the corridor, Ruby and Demon turning to laugh at their plight. Ruby wiped a few tears from her eyes and turned to Demon, her demeaner suddenly shifting to rage as she kicked him in the shin, somehow hurting him through his Aura AND armour, causing him to bend over in pain.

"I thought you didn't come back from Beacon! And where'd your mask go?" she questioned, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"It takes more than a big angry Grimm Dragon to keep me down!" he joked, earning a small smile for his efforts, "I had to take a little nap, though, which is why I'm a bit late to the party… As for the mask, you can thank Sun for that one…"

Ruby sighed and wrapped him in a massive hug again, letting him go in favour of running over to Blake and welcoming her back. Demon watched her go and turned to his side, to the currently invisible Neo who had made herself unnoticeable so as to not ruin the re-union between the siblings, but that didn't do much for Demon who could still feel a strange sense beside him and he had noticed the slight shadow against the wall.

"Don't worry Neo, I'll tell them about you soon, just let them have their fun for a while and I'll introduce you after we're settled in"

The little assassin tapped him twice on the shoulder for a 'yes' and Demon could have sworn he heard a small sigh, but payed it no mind as he walked up the corridor, only to be almost be crushed by Nora who had decided to greet him. He thanked her and nodded a greeting to Ren who was also watching from a distance.

"What did you do to that massive Dragon!" the hammer-wielder asked excitedly, practically jumping off the walls with how much energy she had.

"How many pancakes…" deadpanned Demon, seeing Ren hold up all ten fingers on both hands and sighing. "Well Nora, I broke its legs…" he responded, the girl cheering in delight and jumping off back to Ren, grabbing onto his arm and spewing thousands of words a second into his ears, Demon giving him a salute to help him pass through the pain.

His attention shifted back to Yang who was talking with Blake about everything while the faunus was shifting uncomfortably under the constant questioning, while Ruby did the same with the Ice Queen, producing similar results. Demon smiled at the friendliness, but noticed a distinct lack of the one person he definitely wanted to see. Just as he was about to ask, he was granted with the sight of a mane of the nearly platinum blonde hair of his girlfriend, a smile coming to his face when their eyes met and they both stood apart from one another, not saying or do anything as they did so in silence.

Tears began to well in her eyes as she brought both her hands to her mouth to stop a cry from escaping, her knees shaking as the realisation that he was still alive was slowly dawning on her. Demon walked over to her and slowly wrapped her in a hug, not saying anything a letting his actions speak for him as she stood in his arms, letting out a river of tears. She tried to say something but it only came out as choked coughing, so he placed a hand over her mouth and hushed her, pulling her closer and whispering 'it's alright, I'm here' into her ear so that she would calm down.

She stayed calm for a few seconds before suddenly punching him in the gut, causing him to stagger back, grasping the impact point in conclusion for a few seconds, looking to see Rosaline standing where she was, looking at the floor and hiding her face as small splashes of tears hit the carpet.

"That's for scaring me…" she muttered, Demon knowing this was undoubtedly how the reunion would go and he didn't blame her, he had indeed left her for months and hadn't even let Yang tell her that he was alive.

"Look, Rosaline…" he started, but he never got to finish. Just as he was about to explain, she surged forward and grabbed onto his collar, pulling him in violently… and crashing her lips right onto his as she kissed him with as much passion as she could muster. Demon stood like a stunned mullet for a few seconds as his mind struggled to comprehend what was happening before he actually began to kiss back, a small tear of happiness escaping his eye without his consent, but he didn't care… right now was the happiest he'd been in a while. He would have happily stayed like that for the rest of his life, but unfortunately, he had the unlucky need of having to breathe, so they both broke off after a while, staring into each other's eyes in silence.

"And that's for coming back…" she muttered again, bringing a smile to Demons face as he realised she wasn't go to castrate him for leaving.

"About damned time!" Yang cheered from the sidelines, both Demon and Rosaline turning to see literally everyone else staring at them with various expressions ranging from joy (Yang, Tempest, Ruby and Nora), congratulations (Weiss, Blake, Josh, Jaeger, Kira and Ren) and confusion (Jaune, Markus, Qrow who was currently drunk on the couch, as well as some kid who was standing off to the side). Both of them flushed red and stepped away awkwardly, conversations resuming around the room as everyone re-acquainted themselves with each other.

All the while, no one noticed a pint-sized ice-cream themed assassin run down the hall with tears streaming down from her eyes as she ran as fast as she could, trying her very best to escape the heart-break that had just happened in front of her. But never the less… there was no way she would ever erase that scene from her mind and she was kicking herself over and over in her mind. There was no way someone like him would ever love someone like her, after all, she was an assassin and had killed people in cold blood, orphaned for her entire life and didn't even have a cent to her name… and he, well he was a saint in her eyes, so why did she even bother pretending like she had a chance.

As she busted through the doors into the main room of the inn, she ignored the startled cries of the innkeeper as she shouldered past her and out the front door and into the cold night of Mistral. She shivered as the cold hit her exposed skin but she ignored it… now all that mattered was running, and getting away from the one thing that caused her pain right now…


	18. But it's not even Halloween?

**Tempest: AHA! Got the password again!**

 **Could you please stop getting on my laptop... trying to remove your edits is getting really annoying**

 **Tempest: Well you could, you know, actually start adding me in more rather than forcing me to add myself in!**

 **Screw you... but anyways, DAMN was Vol 5 Ep 2 BADASS AS ALL HELL... oh, and it also serves to fuel the fire that is the 'sacrifice Adam for the glory of Satan' pile**

 **Tempest: I especially liked it when [REDACTED]... AGAIN REALLY! you could just tell me to stop talking rather than just put my thirty minute long speech into a 'Redacted' text line! Long story short, though, I'm glad I ended that bastard back in the attack on Beacon so that shit won't happen in your story...**

 **...**

 **Tempest: Wait, what do you mean '...' WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING!**

 **...**

 **Tempest: Damn you and your ellipses'!**

 **In other new, though, I'm going to be doing stuff for the next few weeks so I don't have any time to release an inevitable Halloween chapter that I was going to do, SO I decided that instead of continuing the story (sorry everyone who was hanging for the next chapter) I'd release a completely Omake chapter that is still as long as the others to lighten the mood a bit and give a bit of long-awaited fan-service...**

 **Tempest: Fan Service? You have me interested...**

 **Don't worry, Yang'll be getting a 'special' costume for Halloween**

 **Tempest: I don't know how, but I'm going to have to buy you a beer if you're doing what I think you're doing...**

 **Just wait and see... but, before we continue on to the chapter, this is for the viewers! If you can name all of the characters the main crew are cosplaying as well as where it comes from, (RWBY (excluding Yang), JNPR, DR(S)K and the Angels, as well as Goodwitch) AND the 'guest' that appears in the first Omake, then leave a Review with a special request and I'll see to it that your request is met to the best of my ability! Also, no looking in the Reviews before to see what other people have put down, the person who answers everything correctly first will win!**

 **Tempest: OOOH! Can I answer! That way I can get a pic of Yang at the beach!**

 **NO... go and ask one of my friends for that, I only have Neo pics on me now**

 **Tempest: Grrrr, fine then, give me a sec *walks off***

 **O...K... well, ONTO THE CHAPTER! AND one last thing... for those who are interested, listen to NEFFEX Backstage and tell me, Rosaline or Neo? Heaven or 'Backstage'...**

 **Naughtbeast**

Fury of Heaven and Hell Omake Halloween Chapter:

 **Omake 1: The Apprentice and the Master… cook?**

During the second term leading up to the Vytal festival, it was made aware to the students that there would have to be some lesson changes so that they could continue their study while training for the tournament… fortunately, this allowed for a few 'less liked' classes to be taken out of the roster.

"THANK YOU, MISS GOODWITCH!" screamed Yang through the halls as loud as she could, drawing the attention of just about every student that was walking past… until they realised who it was and went on with their daily lives.

"Yang… why are my ears bleeding?" questioned Demon as he tried to address the blonde brute through ears that were, indeed, bleeding… a result of standing close to someone who had honed their battle-cries over years of shouting, so standing within arm's reach was a terrible idea in the first place.

"Because she just removed Grimm studies from the roster!" cheered Yang, once again drawing the attention of LITERALLY EVERYONE in the corridor as they pulled out their scrolls in the blink of an eye to check their schedules and cheering when they found that it was indeed gone.

"And that's good why?... I always get a good laugh out of Port's stories!"

"Uhh… have you seen him? He literally hits on EVERY SINGLE ONE of the girls in our class!... except for Ruby, which is why he isn't dead yet"

"That's… creepy… but what do we have that replaces it?"

"It looks like we have… wait, this can't be right"

"What?"

"We have… cooking?"

Demon tried to stifle a laugh, until he realised that their next lesson would, in fact, be with the new cooking teacher. He and Yang looked at each other before groaning and slouching off towards their next classroom, neither of them liking the idea of spending an hour honing their *cough cough* completely trash culinary skills. The two of them took their time getting there as they still had some time and ended up getting their early, both of them deciding to look in on the class that was already in there… and immediately regretted it.

The class that was currently under the 'instruction' of the new teacher consisted of most of the second years, Demon seeing team CFVY off in one of the corners of the room… but it wouldn't really be considered that when it looked like a warzone. And the teacher… well, they could already tell that he had spent a considerable amount of time crawling out of hell to get here.

"WHERE'S THE GODDAMN LAMB SAUCE YOU PIECE OF [ **CENSORED** ]! MY GRANDMOTHER COOKS BETTER THAN YOU, AND SHE'S DEAD!" came the extremely loud and commanding tone of the new teacher, all the way from the front of the class as he skittered in between stations to observe the cooking, stopping every now and then to completely destroy the hopes and dreams of any poor soul who had the unfortunate luck to stuff something up.

The room was silent, bar for a few seconds, until another student decided it would be a great plan to try some food-fu which resulted in him trying to flip a pancake over his head… only for it to land on his face and burn part of his nose. The teacher instantly was on him and strangely grabbed two pieces of bread, putting them over his ears and yelling into his face, "YOU KNOW WHAT I HAVE HERE! AN IDIOT SANDWICH! NOW GROW SOME [ **CENCORED** ] AND START COOKING PROPERLY!"

Demon and Yang had to take a spit-take as they both realised they'd be screwed if they were to actually go in there as they best any of them could do was chocolate-filled strawberry pancakes, which were a necessity if you wanted to wake up Ruby early in the morning… she wouldn't ever realise you were there until at least a literal tonne of sugar was coursing through her veins.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking…" Yang began, slowly backing away from the door, Demon following suit.

"You break my legs so that we get out of this thing?"

"Not exactly, but the getting the hell out of here definitely fits the bill"

They turned around and were just about to run for their lives… if it wasn't for the two hands that grabbed their collars the second they were about to leave, rooting them in place. They both turned, dreading the meeting with the teacher, both of them letting out a long held-in breath when they saw it was only Tempest.

"Thank the gods, we thought you were the teacher for a second!" Yang exclaimed, trying to move again, only to find that Tempest was still rooting her in place.

"Where do you two think you're going?" he said sternly, acting surprisingly serious for what he was doing.

"Running for our lives so we don't lose our will to live when he sees our cooking?" Demon answered, trying to get out of the Pilot's grip and succeeding, only to be tripped up by Gambol Shroud's ribbon a foot from where he was. "OH, COME ON! REALLY!"

"Oh, not you too Blake!" Yang sighed, the cat faunus nodding slowly as she brought Demon back to the door.

"Cooking is an important skill if one is to get anywhere in life…" she replied.

"You just smelt the Tuna, didn't you…" Demon smirked, the cat faunus remaining perfectly still as she simply replied with 'I will neither confirm nor deny that statement'.

Just as they were about to continue their banter, the teams from the last class trudged out of the room, all with ripped and burnt clothes, looking like they had to fight an Ursa for a pot of honey… with a spoon. None of them escaped the prospect of their entire uniform being covered in the meal they were meant to be preparing, various sauces and foods hanging from their stained clothing as they shambled out. Team CFVY were the last to trundle out, Coco and Yatsuhashi looking the worst-for-wear as they were literally covered head-to-toe in food… while Fox and Velvet were completely untouched.

"That… was… hell" muttered the team leader, the giant behind her grunting in approval as they both trudged off in what Demon could only assume to be the general direction of the showers.

"Come on Coco, it wasn't that bad!" their faunus team-mate corrected her, running after their team leader with a skip in her step, while Fox just silently followed like a ghost.

"Ummm… Fox, any tips for surviving?" Demon asked, the blind man not even turning around to answer.

"You don't… just listen and follow his instructions TO THE LETTER… and he hopefully won't serve you for dinner"

Demon shuddered, as did Yang, while Tempest and Blake seemed unfazed. In the next minute, all of the first years were gathered. It was a mixture of expressions, ranging from excitement, to dread and all the way to fighting for your life (Yang and Demon), but it seemed generally calm at first… that was, until the teacher arrived.

"ALRIGHT! LISTEN HERE YOU PUMPKINS! THIS IS NOT A BLUDGE CLASS, SO IF I FIND YOU ON YOUR SCROLLS OR DOING ANYTHING OTHER THAN COOKING, YOU WILL BE SPIT-ROASTED AND SERVED IN THE CAFATERIA! ARE WE CLEAR!" he shouted… coincidentally point-blank into Demon and Yang's faces, both of them now proceeding to have bleeding ears.

"Yes?" the students answered hesitantly, whatever enthusiasm they felt for the class now being destroyed in the five seconds they were actually in it.

"YOU WILL RESPOND WITH 'YES CHEF' OR THE PREVIOUSLY STATED PUNISHMENT WILL BE STILL ENFORCED, UNDERSTOOD!"

"Yes Chef?" everyone said hesitantly, the teacher sighing and taking them inside.

"NOW, GET IN GROUPS OF FOUR AND MAKE ME A MEAL! WORST TASTING DISH GETS TO CLEAN THE TOILETS FOR THE NEXT MONTH!" he shouted, everyone instantly trying to get with people they knew were good cooks… while Yang and Demon clung to Tempest like their lives depended on it… because they did.

"Please… save us!" they whispered to him, the Pilot sighing and nodding his head, both of the siblings cheering with glee, with Ruby jumping in at the last second into their group.

"Can we make COOKIES!" she said excitedly, cheering even louder when Tempest just grinned and nodded his head. Both Yang and Demon were sceptical at first… but even they should know, one must never doubt the culinary skills of a certain insane shotgunner.

"We only need to get the batter and bake it at 400 degrees for ten minutes, then we'll be set!" Tempest announced, putting on an apron and getting stuff read.

"OR… we could bake them at 4,000 degrees for a minute!" Ruby cheered, her eyes going wide in excitement while Yang and Demon sweat-dropped.

"Ruby, that isn't how maths works… or how cooking works for that matter" Demon interrupted, unfortunately… Ruby wasn't even listening.

"OR! We can go 4,000,000 degrees for a second!" she cheered, Tempest's smile widening even more as he zipped out of the classroom, coming back with industrial-grade worker suits and welding masks for the two of them.

"Give me a second Ruby, you get to cutting up the butter and chocolate with Crescent Rose and I'll go and get the Arc Cannon to toast these puppies!" Tempest quickly noted as he zoomed out again, off towards Demon's pod, the Pilot receiving a notification that he now no longer had a door… again.

"This isn't going to end well, is it…" Yang muttered, Demon only nodding his head as he imagined the terrors that were to come.

 **[One hour later]**

"ALRIGHT, EVERYONE STOP COOKING!" shouted the teacher over the din of the kitchen, most of the grade collapsing to the floor from exhaustion as soon as he said that, everyone else gasping for air as they tried to rest.

"BRING YOUR PIECE OF [ **CENSORED** ] FOOD UP HERE BEFORE YOU BECOME BREAKFAST!"

The most capable members of each team (AKA the ones that were still standing) made their way up to the stadium and placed their plates on the table, the teacher looking carefully over each one, stopping at one poor sods who had tried to put together a simple beef steak… emphasis on tried.

"WHAT IS THIS! IT'S [ **CENSORED** ] RAW!"

Needless to say, the student just gave up and fell asleep on the floor, tired out after everything they did. The teacher shook his head in disappointment and moved on, stopping at Tempest, Ruby, Yang and Demon's plate… which was piled high with seemingly ordinary chocolate chip cookies.

"WHO THE [ **CENSORED** ] MADE THESE!"

"That'd be me, Sir!" Tempest smiled, stepping forward, the teacher narrowing his eyes judgingly.

"AND WHY THE HELL DID YOU THINK IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO SERVE ME COOKIES!" he yelled in Tempest's face, which didn't even faze him.

"Ruby…" answered the Pilot, pointing over his shoulder to the girl, who was happily noming away on a cookie, an action which caused every person in the room to go 'awwwww' simultaneously as several of them proceeded to be taken to the nurse's office for 'cuteness induced heart-attacks' in which their hearts are too busy going 'awwww' that they forget that they need to actually keep their person alive.

"WELL THEN!... you get an A" he said simply, moving on as he took one, tasted it, and nodded in satisfaction. Tempest smirked and walked back to the table, high-fiving Ruby on the way.

"See, I told you it would work out!" Tempest chastised Yang and Demon, both of them currently trying to process what just happened.

"But… how? You literally baked them for three seconds!"

"It was easy! Demon's nuclear reactor in his Titan managed to bake them well enough!"

"You baked them… with the nuclear reactor!"

"Yeah?"

"And what about the radiation?"

"Radio-what now?"

"Yang, why is my hand glowing… and why do I have a sixth finger?"

"TEMPEST!"

 **Omake 2: The Yandere Shop**

The Yandere… a unique and interesting creature, often mistaken for an innocent and cute-looking schoolgirl, right up until you've got a butcher's knife sticking out of your neck and choking on your own blood… but one simple question has been asked too many times… just where to they get all their implements of extreme 'Senpai notice me' from exactly? Well, the answer is simple, and today, we shall be going into the lives of someone who helps supply these implements of death.

"Yo, what's this about being filmed?" asked an extremely sceptical and confused Josh as he stood behind the counter of a seemingly normal convenience store filled with everything you'd ever need, ranging from headache medication, groceries, toilet paper, chloroform bottles, military-grade axes… wait a minute…

"I do believe they wish to understand our line of work better…" answered the always methodical Markus from beside him, the man currently in the process of mixing together a rather volatile-looking substance in a vial, the mixture bubbling furiously as it gradually started to turn more green with every passing second.

"They do? There really is much to it, but I guess they want a show… so anyway! *clears throat* I'm Josh Dakkery and this is my Yandere shop. I work here with the old man from LITERALLY every shop in Vale and my partner Markus. Everything in here has a story and price. One thing I've learned after 21 years – You never know WHAT is gonna come through that door!"

"You started working here when you were three? That doesn't sound feasible?" Markus corrected as he finished with the concoction, pouring it into a bottle labelled 'poison' before filing it off to a specific shelf.

"Shut up Markus, you're ruining a perfectly good reference... but anyway, there isn't really special to it… we keep the yandere's supplied with their stuff and they don't kill us, it's as simple as that"

"It is a profitable business… you'd be surprised at the amount of business we get around Valentine's Day… it has a disturbingly high correlation with local hospital admissions, though" Markus continued, going back to brewing up another batch of what was probably more poison… either that, or a really disgusting mouth-wash. As Josh was about to continue with his explanation, the front door busted open and a teenage boy sprinted right up to the counter and practically collapsed on it.

"I… need… the antidote" he coughed out through laboured breathing, Josh remaining perfectly calm through the whole thing.

"Sorry Sir, but without the returned bottling, we can't efficiently gauge what will help you and I don't want to risk the business selling you something that can kill you" he responded simply, tapping a few keys on a holographic scroll as he shifted through stock lists. The kid slammed a glass bottle on the table and Josh gave a slight 'ooooohhh' of admiration.

"Damn, you've gotta be at least the second longest survivor of that one, it usually knocks out a gorilla in a few minutes, but we sold that one like three hours ago, so kudos to you"

"THE ANTIDOTE!" the guy screamed, trying to stop himself from falling asleep.

"Right… give me a second"

A few moments later, he came back holding a blue bottle which was hastily chugged down by the teen, who moments later looked back to perfect health. The teen grimaced and pulled out a wad of cash, slamming it on the counter and walking off out the door, Josh happily taking the money and shoving it in a till under the counter.

"Have a nice day!" he called off after the guy who only flipped him off as he slammed the door shut.

"We have a few… problems, with the male customers, but we couldn't care less when it saves our asses from getting a knife in the back"

As soon as he said that, he heard the sound of shattered glass and saw Neo stumble out from a corner of the shop, a look of complete and utter confusion dominating her features.

"Neo? What are you doing here! I didn't know you were in Menagerie!" Josh exclaimed, the petite assassin's eyes going even wider when she saw the Pilot. She quickly took out a sign and there was already a message written.

'What are YOU doing in Menagerie, I thought you were on the way to Mistral?'

"Well, Demon doesn't need to know that, but I need to keep this shop up and running if I want to get a reasonable income!"

'You get paid anyway, and Markus can just hack your bank account…'

"Ummmm ok, getting protection from yandere's comes in handy more times than I can count"

'Ok then… well, I was walking past and suddenly this girl was running my way with a large knife screaming 'HE LOOKED AT YOU'… so I tried to teleport back to our inn, but ended up here'

"Well, that's weird… but anyway, can I interest you in the knicks and knacks of our yandere shop, we have everything you need to make your senpai notice you, from a kick-ass theme song that plays whenever you fight, provided by a completely invisible band that follows you everywhere, to the smallest of knives for 'taking out the competition'…"

Neo raised an eyebrow and looked down to the cash that she held in her hand, the lien that Demon in fact had given her to spend… well, he did say on 'whatever' she wanted. Neo smiled and began happily skipping around the store, picking up several vials of poisons, an assortment of throwing knives and choke-cords, as well as a set of tracking chips?

As Josh watched her run around like she was a child in a candy shop, two new customers walked through the door, conversing normally. One had long, mid-back length pink hair with normal black and white smock on, while the other hand short, brown hair and had a cleaver handing off a belt around her waist… which had a disturbing amount of blood on it.

"I mean, don't you just hate it! At first, everyone's like 'oh, I want a yandere girlfriend' but then 'hurr, durr, don't kill me!'…"

"I know right! I wasted at least two hours yesterday chasing down my husbando to give him his 'medicine', but he ran off straight after I gave it to him and didn't even thank me!"

"That's just rude! It's like they DON'T want to spend time asleep with you!"

The conversation ended the second they got to the counter as they both met Josh with a smile, the Pilot returning in kind, as well as taking a few packages out from under his counter.

"Here you go ladies, your orders are right here"

"Thanks a lot Josh, I just know my husbando will finally notice me after this!" one added as they both meandered out of the store happily, only for two guys to run back in a few minutes later, both wearing incredulous looks of alarm on their visages.

"Seriously Josh!" one yelled, looking half a second away from punching said man in the face.

"Don't blame me, blame them! I only supply the stuff!"

"SEVENTEEN TIMES DAKKERY! I'VE BEEN KNOCKED OUT SEVENTEEN TIMES ONLY TO WAKE UP WITH HER NEXT TO ME, COMPLETELY NAKED! DO YOU KNOW HOW DISTURBING THAT IS!" shouted the other one, clenching his fist as he shuddered at the memories.

"Why would you be complaining about that one?" Josh asked, not exactly seeing his point.

"BECAUSE SHE WAS HOLDING SEVERAL KNIVES AND EVERY TIME THREATENED TO CUT MY HEAD OFF TO MAKE ME MORE 'PERMANENT'!"

"That's kind of what they do… but anyway, I'm here to serve the customers and I know just what you want"

"OH REALLY! BECAUSE WHAT I WANT NOW IS TO… oh wow, you actually have it…"

Josh came out holding several small bags, each with a large number of vials, clothing and several ID cards.

"You want a completely new life? Well, here's all you need to be on the next ship to Vacuo or Atlas, no questions asked, free of your yandere's forever! PLUS, I'll disable the tracking chips in both your ankles"

"HELL YES!" they both shouted, slamming several wads of lien on the table, running off as quickly as they could to get away, Josh pressing a few buttons to deactivate the trackers that were indeed injected into them.

"Well… as you can see, we get some pretty hectic stuff around here, so it's always lively" Josh explained, Markus coming back from a side-room carrying what looked like trophy cases… each of the with a different name under each one. "Oh… and those, well they're for when the yandere's want their husbando's forever… if you know what I mean"

Markus just shook his head as he placed them on the 'orders ready' part of the store.

"A much more effective way would be to convert their consciousness into a computer program and install several limiting systems to stop them from thinking about anything you didn't want them to… it would certainly be what I would do if I were in the same situation"

"Markus, we agreed for you to not think of better ways for them to 'go about their business'… we don't want any more law-suits coming our way after the 'last incident'"

Before he had any chance to explain, Neo dumped a sizable amount of purchases on the table, Josh whistling in admiration as he tallied up the costings.

"Damn Neo, this is literally enough stuff to wage a small war… which I tell you, is probably going to be what you need if you're going after Demon… that guy is denser than 90% of most anime harem protagonists, which is saying something"

The small ice-cream girl blushed heavily as she shied away, which only caused Josh to laugh as he put everything in a massive bag. Neo thanked him and quickly hurried out of the store, leaving them with an empty store.

"Well, looks like it's about time to close up!" announced Josh as he wandered over and flipped the sign on the door to 'closed' dusting off his hands and beginning to pack up everything.

"Uhhh… Mr Dakkery, I do believe we've been open for little under an hour" Markus reminded him as he looked at his accomplice with a strange glance.

"Yeah, but the Omake's almost over and the author needs to wrap things up"

"Author? Wait, is this one of those times that… what does Tempest call it? The fourth wall being broken?"

"Exactly, and I've used up most of my fourth-wall breaking in this, so cut me some slack"

As he finished, the door was busted down and in strolled a very familiar character with blood-red samurai armour and a Grimm mask… who was male (not Raven, the other guy).

"Demon! What brings you here!" Josh asked, completely inconspicuously as he tried to hide the receipt of Neo's purchase.

"Josh, why is Neo running around with a knife trying to kill Weiss with a sign saying she's 'removing the competition'?"

"I have no clue what you're talking about…"

"We sold her yandere supplies…" deadpanned Markus as he stared at Josh who covered his heart with face gusto.

"We what! Markus, I told you we were going out of that business!"

"But five minutes ago, you were happy to supply her with anything she needed to 'make senpai notice her' as you put it"

"Shut up, you're not being helpful"

Demon sighed and walked towards Josh menacingly, cracking his knuckles as he did so.

"We're going to need to have a 'talk' about what you're supplying people with" Demon warned, cocking _Law and Order_ as he took aim, Josh sweat-dropping at the action.

"No need to jump to conclusions, I'm just providing a necessary service to the community"

Demon growled and fired a shot, only for it to be blocked by an unseen figure. When the smoke cleared, several girls, all of them noticeably holding several knives and implements of torture in their grips, were surrounding Josh, who was now wearing a confident smirk.

"HA! I have protection from any nearby yandere's! You can't touch me!"

"That's where you're wrong… HAREM GO!"

Suddenly, Neo, Rosaline, Weiss, Winter and Velvet popped out of nowhere, each of them armed to the teeth with weapons.

"What the hell are Weiss and Winter doing here!" exclaimed Josh.

"Apparently, the fans think they're part of my Harem, so I'm not exactly complaining"

They stared at each other for a few seconds before all hell broke loose, the store instantly being filled with gunfire and blade clashes, Josh and Demon walking over to one another in the midst of all the chaos, staring at each other with barely-contained rage and ready to tear each other to shreds at the drop of a hat...

"Soooo… you wanna grab a beer"

"Eh, I have nothing better to do"

Oh come on! I was just about to write a fight scene...

 **Omake 3: This is Halloween…**

It is a dark and stormy night, with lighting arcing from the sky to the ground at quickening intervals. In the blacked-out room of team RWBY, a gathering of students observed one who sat above them all, the only light source in the room illuminating a dark mask that covered their face, producing an ominous tone, as a deep and foreboding tone echoed as he spoke.

"One day a year, the forces of darkness converge all across Remnant, with a dark task in hand… relieving every single person of their candy and TP'ing the houses of anyone who resists… and it is known as HALLOWEEN!"

"Tempest, that is literally the worst explanation you have EVER given… and that includes the time you tried to explain the plot of Fire Emblem and you just said 'Waifu Wars'" came the voice of Kira, who sounded very pissed off for some reason.

"But that is the ENTIRE SERIES! Don't even TRY to debate that!"

Kira just groaned and everyone else sighed heavily.

"Well, the mood's ruined, so just get to your point Tempest" Demon announced, turning on the lights and causing everyone to hiss violently when they got blinded.

"Oh, come on! I was almost done!" complained Tempest, who was covered in a bedsheet with horribly cut-out eyes, so badly done that you could easily tell who it was.

"Is that my sheet?" Yang questioned, cracking her knuckles at Tempest, who paled instantly.

"That's not important… what IS important is that it's almost Halloween!" he cheered, everyone sitting in silence as his enthusiasm slowly died away.

"You do realise it's the middle of May right now…"

"Yeah, but in the author's world, it's nearing Halloween, so he wants me to pull together something special!"

"But it's still like ten days in the author's world anyway, there's no point in doing one NOW, can't we just save this for the next chapter or something?" Demon put in, Tempest narrowing his eyes as he glared.

"Hey, you're not allowed to break the fourth wall!"

"Oh please, I'm the main character! Plus, this is an Omake, so it doesn't really matter… plus, the author says he'll drop a brick truck on you if you complain"

"How are we even going to do this anyway? No one else is going to take part and I doubt we'll have any fun…" Weiss interrupted, everyone giving a resounding call of agreement.

"That's just it… I've pulled together, through the power of bullshit plot, a time-machine that will allow us to have Halloween… ON HALLOWEEN!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… you know it doesn't really sound ominous when you use something like that to just have a Halloween party" Yang deadpanned, Tempest mock-crying when no one supported him.

"Look, do you want a Halloween party or not? Plus, if we do it now, Pyrrha won't have to cosplay as a Ghost when the actual Halloween comes around!"

Everyone stared at him strangely, bar Nora, who grabbed Maghild and slammed it full-force on his head, knocking him out instantly.

"NOTHING EVER HAPPENED! EVER!" she screamed, the rest of the group ignoring the shenanigans as they conversed about what they were going to wear. Once they were all decided, they went around and began making, buying and generally designing the BEST costumes they could, for the pure purpose of out-shining the other teams.

Tempest woke up a few hours later, looked around strangely and decided to go back to sleep when he saw Nora giving him by-far the scariest look he'd seen all of his life, and that included when he'd accidentally seen Yang in her underwear… he did not know how he managed to live past that day… although it was mostly through a combination of using Ruby as a body-shield and promising her a HELL of a lot of favours, some of which he dreaded when their time eventually came around.

Two days later, everyone re-convened at RWBY's dorm, most of them not dressed so as to not ruin the surprise, costumes in-hand and ready for use the second they went.

"So… how exactly are we going to do this?" asked Josh, muttering to himself when he saw what Tempest was wearing. Said Pilot had decided to go for the full Halloween theme and had decked himself out in a rather specific vampire costume, wearing a blood-red overcoat that covered his entire body, bar for his black pants and shoes, with a wide-brimmed hat and a set of reflective golden spectacles to cover his eyes, _Hellraisers_ being painted one black and one silver for the occasion.

"Vell, ve vill go trou te portal" he began, putting on his best German accent, only to be slapped across the back of the head by Yang, who glared at him until he gave up and began talking normally, "We go through the portal, do our Halloweeny stuff and get sent back, sound good?"

"And how are we getting there?" asked Demon, still sceptical of the idea.

"Ummm…" Tempest began, looking around as if someone else was meant to know the answer.

"What do you mean Ummm… didn't you have a plan?" Rosaline asked, Tempest rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Well, I was reading over the script and apparently, a portal was meant to open here righ…" he didn't even get to finish his sentence before a massive warping red portal opened in front of him and sucked him in, as well as Yang, Ruby and Blake who were standing nearby, Nora cheering 'TALLY-HO!' as she jumped through, dragging a reluctant Ren through as well. Jaune mumbled something when he gave up trying to hold onto something and was sucked through, with Pyrrha follow through a moment later. Rosaline jumped through as well, with Kira and Demon following a moment later, with Markus, Josh and Jaeger deciding to follow as well because they didn't want to be left behind, the portal closing a second later.

When they woke up, they were laying on the ground in the middle of Beacon Courtyard, the trees and massive columns of stone decorated in spider webs, jack-o-lanterns and all other plethora of Halloween goodies. When they looked around, they all saw that they had been put into their costumes as they went through, most of them just shrugging it off, while the others were wondering who the hell did it.

Yang was the first to get up, smiling at her own outfit as she was now dressed as what people would call a *cough cough* cop, which consisted of a much-shorter-than-it-should-have-been mini-skirt a that barely covered half of her thighs, thigh-high stockings with garter-belts to match, a tank-top vest that accentuated her *cough cough* assets and an officers cap, with a pair of handcuffs and a baton at her thigh. She looked at her reflection and smirked as she knew more than a few boys would be getting a nosebleed when she walked past, ignoring the fact that Tempest was already going through a small crisis with his nose now threatening to drown him after seeing her.

Ruby was up next, cheering as she saw that _Crescent Rose_ got the costume treatment as well, being dressed in an Imperial Japanese Demon Army uniform from an anime that Yang showed her, a long-sleeved black coat with a standing collar with a magenta bow tie around it. The coat had two rows of gold buttons on the front, light green detail that were evident along its length as well as on two shoulder epaulettes, which had a fourragère passing under and around her right side. Along with that, she was wearing a pair of white gloves, an armband on her left arm, and a white web belt with a gold waist-plate. A black skirt came down from the uniform with dark gray thigh-high socks and knee-high black boots. Her hair was dyed a bit pink with a bow near the back of her neck tying it into a pony-tail and only being visible at the front, _Crescent Rose_ now being black except for the blade that was now glowing orange.

Weiss stood and saw that she was dressed in a sort of regal attire, a blood-red and black dress that looked similar to what a Victorian Queen would be seen wearing (although she didn't know that), with a parasol next to her and her hair let down behind her back, now being a light silver, with a small bat hairpiece where her off-centred ponytail would normally be. The heiress looking in the mirror and smiling to see that she now had fangs on the front of her teeth, the girl deducing that her vampire theme was now, indeed, a success.

Blake looked around and was absolutely terrified with what she was dressed in, only realising it when Yang burst out laughing when she saw her. She was wearing a French maid outfit, which would have been embarrassing in itself, if she didn't have little cat bell dangling from her neck and a tail coming out from her behind, several cat cut-outs being embellished on the clothing, a large 'neko café' tag pinned to her uniform. Her face immediately went red and she mumbled something about 'finding a new one' and ran off towards their dorm.

Jaune was, unsurprisingly wearing a knight costume, silver armour coated in a white tabard with a red cross across it, a full 'bucket' helmet covering his face, with slits for eyes and several holes for him to breathe through. He still had Crocea Mors strapped to his waist, although now it had writing across the blade which read 'DEUS VULT' in massive gold script. His tiny heater shield was replaced with a massive tower shield with a red cross on a white background emblazoned on the front.

Pyrrha had chosen to wear what appeared to be leather studded armour, with a brown padding on her shoulders, legs and fore-arms, which left from her shoulders down and from mid-thigh to knees free of armour. She had an under-garment of blue cloth and brown straps with fur, her face being covered with an iron helmet that covered everything, bar for her eyes, with a small crest on the top. _Milo and Akouo_ were gone and replaced with a simple iron sword and a wooden shield with iron fittings to strengthen the bonds. When she looked over it, she also noticed that for some strange reason there was a prop arrow sticking out of her right kneecap...

Nora… well, not much new in that department now… except for the MASSIVE set of armour she was wearing and the fact that Maghild now had a flaming jet engine in the back of it and Nora was rejoicing to the high heavens while Ren was trying to figure out a solution to let him survive the next time she decided to boop him. The armour looked WAY too big for her, but that didn't matter because it was literally like a walking TANK, made even worse for anyone other than Nora by the fact that there was a JET ENGINE on her back as well.

Ren, well he was wearing what could only be described as a ninja monk? He had a half-mask covering the bottom part of his mouth, with no shirt (much to Nora's enjoyment) that now had a large tiger tattoo that covered his chest and left arm, blue baggy pants that went down to his knees with golden arm-guards and knee-guards. A series of ropes served as a belt and a sash that held a Kora sword on his back, the blade seeming staying in place despite the fact it only was held to his back by a single rope.

Jaeger… well, I don't really want to talk about it, but he had decided to dress in a completely body-tight purple skinsuit with his eight-eyes recon visor now split into three parts on his head, with his hair now surprisingly long and braided into a pony-tail, his DMR now a suspiciously well-made mecha-shift weapon that looked like an assault rifle until he flicked a switch and started to resemble a sniper rifle.

Markus, well he had decided to go for his more mechanical routes and was now wearing a dark red robe that covered his entire body, except his face, which was instead covered by a weird silver gas-mask with wisps of vapour pouring out every time he breathed, his eyes now just beady red lights. A massive mechanical arm was attached to his back, seemingly coming straight out of his spine, that was spinning around and doing its own thing, which just so happened to be slapping Tempest in the face, a large cog emblazoned on the machine with a skull in the centre with a strange looking eye.

Josh had been duped over for some reason, getting a costume that he hadn't even picked out (much like Blake), being dressed in a white and gold uniform with a white tabard coming down his chest and light armour covering everything else, a mock golden halo being hung around his head attached to the back of his neck armour and a new set of mechanical wings coming from his back, blazing gold feathers made of light coming from each port. Attached to his thigh was a tiny pistol, which in his opinion held WAY too much ammo for its size gauging by the counter on the holo-display, as well as a rather large staff with three weird prongs at the end, which would switch from glowing gold to a light blue when he flipped a selector switch in the middle of the handle.

Tempest, well he was still wearing the same costume as he had been before, except it was now a slightly darker shade of red due to the copious amounts of blood seeping into it from the aforementioned nose-bleed.

Demon was wearing a variation of his samurai armour, the under-garment being a blue high-coloured long-sleeved mantle that covered his body up to his neck, a light-brown obi being tied around his waist, with crimson armour plating covering his chest, waist, shoulders and thighs, being much less ornate as his normal outfit. His hair was let out and was a little more spiked than normal, with his face surprisingly being visible with two red eyes that had three red dots in each of his iris'. Replacing his odachi was a massive Gunbai, coloured with an orange-brown scheme, the weapon being connected to his wrist by a black chain running to the handle.

Kira… well, it can be said that everyone honestly thought that it would be Yang wearing the skimpiest thing, but her costume took the cake. She wore a black and red flame-designed bikini top with black leather short-shorts and a white-studded belt. Pink thigh-high socks and mid-calf level white boots covered her legs while open-knuckle fingerless gloves were covering her hands. A pink and white scarf with red streaks through it was wound around her neck and her normally brown hair was dyed red with a little chibi skull pinned to the left side of her hair, two yellow chopsticks keeping her hair in a bun with massive trails of hair that went down to her waist. Her sniper rifle had also be changed a bit to look more like a .50 cal Berret, with a massive 40x scope and an extended butt-stock with yellow caution tape on the end. And, if she was miffed by the fact she now looked like… well, how Yang would be if she was any more flirtatious, she didn't show it as she just raised her eyebrows and got on with it.

Rosaline had chosen to go with a simple red and brown dress with slightly ornate gold trimmings, which left her shoulders bare but had long-sleeves connected to her gown that went to mid-thigh level, a small white hood left unused at the back of her neck. She wore only one light brown stocking that covered her left leg that led to sandals which covered her feet and left her toes bare. Her hair was also streaked with red and had been cut short to just above her shoulders.

"Well… looks like we're all suitably dressed!" Cheered Tempest, overcoming his temporary blood-nose, pumping his fist in the air as he took in the scenery around him.

"I don't know… I don't get the point of my costume" Pyrrha asked, looking to Josh who only smiled in reply before answering.

"Well, I know why, the arrows in the wrong place, it needs to be closer to your chest!", to which he was tackled into a nearby wall by a rocket-powered Nora with a cry of 'Hahahahahaha GOT YOU!', who then proceeded to knock him out with the jet-fueled Maghild in one hit, drawing the attention of more than a few passer-by's.

"NOTHING EVER HAPPENED! EVER!" she screamed again, happily skipping back to her team after she realised Josh wasn't going to be moving for a while.

The others noticed the rabble of other students that were running around in their own costumes that reflected the spooky-fun night they were partaking in, RWBY, JNPR, DRK and the Angel's all smirking at the festivities.

"So, how are we gonna rock this night? Most amount of candy gathered, most houses pranked or most scares?" asked Yang, pulling a massive lolly-bag out of nowhere and jumping up and down in excitement, quickly being joined by Ruby who pulled out her own bag for treats.

"Well, I vote we get as much candy as possible, fill a pool with it, then swim in it for the night!" Tempest suggested, already coming up with several plans for how he'd accomplish the feat in the remaining time he'd have, everyone else doing the complete opposite and wonder JUST how insane he really was.

"Students, why are you just standing around?" addressed a voice from a fair way away from the group, the assembled students turning to see Miss Goodwitch walking towards them, the teacher being dressed for the occasion as well. She wore a black-blue dress that showed off her shoulders and wrapped around her neck with long, open sleeves that reveal her hands and shoulders, a short skirt with a white frill complimenting the outfit and long high-heeled boots that curl upwards at the toes to finish off the look… with a signature black witch's hat sitting on her head with a curled end that spiralled too far past what should have been possible.

Although, just about every single one of them (bar Ruby) noticed that they were definitely way too skin-tight for someone of her… bust. Her riding crop had been replaced by a cat-o-nine tails whip that was hanging from her waist and a broomstick was held in her off-hand, a small pumpkin hanging by a chain from her other. A strange black cat was following closely at her heels, the creature having its own matching witch's hat, with its tail being curled in a spiral, much like how the hat was, with a little bauble attached to its collar, which the students only now realising that Miss Goodwitch had a matching one around her own neck.

"What do you mean Miss?" Ruby asked, unaffected, while the rest of the assembled group either raised their eyes wondering if she actually picked her own costume or wondering how the hell she got that big (Weiss)…

"Don't you remember the assembly that was held?" she asked, tilting her head and scratching her head, "although, on second thoughts, I don't remember seeing you there"

"Yeah… we were caught up in some things" lied Demon, causing Glynda to raise her eyebrow and sigh.

"I expected as much, which is why I tried to find you afterwards, guessing you might want to take advantage of the deal"

"Deal?" questioned Yang who perked up at the teacher's words. It was a well-known fact that Miss Goodwitch made it her whole purpose at the college to dissuade gambling of any kind and frown upon bets… so, the fact that she hadn't already shut it down with extreme prejudice was unheard of.

"The team of students that collects the most candy by midnight will be granted a special wish by me!" she announced, all of the students immediately becoming interested in what she had to stay.

"Wait, so we just come back with a truckload of candy and we get anything we want!" Tempest clarified, receiving a nod from the teacher, a smirk falling over his lips as he imagined everything he could do with that power.

"You might want to get started though, it's already been two hours since the challenge was issued and there's only four hours left until midnight!" she said, team RWBY already bolting for the Bullhead landing pads before she was even finished with Blake being dragged against her will after she didn't manage to find a new change of costume, JNPR breaking out of their stupor after Nora threatened to bash them with her hammer if they didn't win. The Angels were a bit slow to start after they had to find a way to extract Josh from the concrete pillar, while DRK didn't move from their spot.

"Ummm… aren't we going to go?" Kira asked, staring sceptically at Demon who was standing still while scratching his chin.

"Shhhh, I'm coming up with a plan… Ok, Rosaline, you can hit up all the high-end houses on the far side of Vale with your wings, I'll go to the shady back-streets and Kira… walk around the Campus"

"What wings? And why is Kira doing nothing?"

"You're plot-wings that turn up after the tournament, and Kira isn't doing nothing, she's getting candy"

"But…" Rosaline began, only to see that Kira had already walked off as per Demon's wishes. She sighed heavily and activated her aura-wings through the power of plot and flew off into the night, Demon making his way to the garages to grab Cerberus, jumping on and revving the engine, noticing the tire-marks coming from the spot where Bumblebee used to rest, a smile overcoming him when he realised he'd have some competition. And so, he went off into the night with a rumbling engine, joining the hundreds of other in a night of fear and conquests for the ultimate prize!... cheap candy!

 **[Three hours later]**

"HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE! Complained Josh as he saw how much candy DRK had accumulated, Demon sitting on the mass of lollies and treats like a throne due to how much there was. The Angels had a reasonable amount by any standards, having five pillow-cases filled with loot.

"Through the powers of flight and sex-appeal!" he replied, getting punched in the face by Kira who gave him a death-glare, although he wasn't that far from the truth. Kira had been walking around the campus and any member of the *cough cough* opposite species, quickly made it their soul duty to fawn over her and give her any candy they had, hoping to exchange it for the candy she had… if you know what I mean. By the end of the night, she'd ended with a small following and enough candy to fill a semi-trailer.

"We would have won, if it wasn't for Nora…" deadpanned Jaune as he pointed to the said Huntress in training who was massaging her stomach after single-handedly finishing off the entirety of JNPR's collected amount before they had even arrived for the event.

The other students from the campus hadn't even come close, any team with male members having noticeably less of a stash, with some all-girls teams even having some candy-cuts for… reasons. Now, the only team that hadn't come back yet was RWBY, who had roughly ten seconds until they were disqualified. Demon was counting down the seconds, the numbers approaching one at what seemed like a crawl, until he felt a burst of wind behind him and was knocked off his perch as Ruby rocketed past him with her Semblance and appeared right next to the Professor out of seemingly nowhere.

"YAY! WE WON!" she cheered, only holding a single bag full of candy, everyone sweat-dropping as they realised that someone'd have to break the bad-news to her… until they saw what was following her. Five Bullheads had large nets hanging underneath them, each loaded to the brim with candy of all shapes and sizes, the pilots dropping them off to a waving Ruby who had the largest smile anyone had ever seen on her face.

The assembled students all jaw-dropped as they saw the absolute MOUNTAIN of candy that Ruby had accumulated, even Glynda's eyes widened at the sight of so much in one place.

"NO ONE CAN RESIST THE ADORABLENESS!" Ruby cheered happily as she jumped up and down from excitement, the rest of RWBY coming up behind her to revel in their victory.

"Congratulations team RWBY, you have one the grand prize!" Miss Goodwitch congratulated, clapping her hands to emphasise their victory, the rest of the students joining in. "Now, think long and hard what you want for your wish, because you only get one between the four of you…" she warned Blake, Yang and Weiss immediately huddling together to contemplate.

"I say we wish for a life-supply of Dust…" Weiss put forward, both of the other girls giving her an evil eye.

"It's a wish to treat ourselves Weiss!" Yang chastised, "I say we all wish for super-fast motorbikes… that way, I can finally beat Demon!"

"Are you insane Yang, it would be far more of a reasonable thing to wish for infinite Tuna… not that it would be a bad thing"

"I wish that everyone gets what they want!" Ruby said innocently, smiling to the crowd and her three team-mates. Weiss was just about to say that what she had said probably wouldn't work as a wish, only for a small chime to be heard that interrupted everyone's thoughts.

"Your wish is my command!" came a shy and feminine voice from the cat next to Miss Goodwitch, the creature's bauble glowing brightly before pulsing outwardly in a wave of orange energy, the faint sound of slightly frightening laughter echoing through the night. After it subsided, everyone suddenly found that the wish had, indeed, worked, although they didn't get the MASSIVE wishes they wanted, they did indeed get something that they had desired.

"HELL YEAH!" cheered Tempest, smiling proudly at what the wish had produced… a large bowl full of nachos with cheese and mince. He happily began wolfing it down at the speed of light, only for the food to replace itself instantly.

"Is that seriously what you wished for!" Yang questioned, raising her eyebrow in honest surprise, "nothing insane, like an army of robots, or to get a picture of me in my bikini or something?"

"Why would I ask for that when I already…" began Tempest, his eyes going wide when he realised what he was saying, Yang realising it at the same time as her eyes turned red, the girl cracking her knuckles while cocking _Ember Celica_.

"What were you going to say?" she asked, walking slowly towards him with killing intent practically radiating off her, while the Pilot chuckled nervously as he carefully put down his nachos and backed up. He quickly took out his scroll and used a shotgun blast to make it resemble Swiss cheese, turning tail and running as fast as he could the second it hit the ground.

"YOU CAN'T PROVE ANYTHING!" he screamed, running for his life as fast as he could with a VERY angry Yang on his tail.

"GET BACK HERE!" she screamed, using her weapons to propel herself forward and… well, let's just say, Tempest wasn't going to be walking anytime soon. And so, the night of Halloween was enjoyed by all as Ruby shared her candy around with everyone on top of the fact that they all had been granted a small wish, everyone went to sleep that night with a smile on their face and a content stomach… except for Tempest… he was in rehab for a month.


	19. We have a Hostage Situation Sir!

**YOU THOUGHT HE WAS GONE, YOU THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD!...**

 **Tempest: you are NOT going to finish that quote...**

 **Are you seriously still here?**

 **Tempest: What do you expect, I'm literally the best character in the entire story!**

 **That can be changed VERY quickly**

 **Tempest: AHA! You can't kill me off anymore! I have protection by the viewers!**

 **Oh, I wasn't talking about you... :)**

 **Tempest: I don't like that...**

 **BUT anyway, back onto the topic, I'm extremely sorry for the MASSIVE upload time this took (trust me when I say my friends made that painfully obvious to me) and this is an EXTRA long chapter for that specific reason... also, VOL 5 episodes are getting better and better! I can't even wait for the next release this weekend...**

 **Tempest: DAMN RIGHT! My waifu was all like *bam kapow* and all that jazz and busted that guy up good!... wait, you didn't redact that?**

 **Nah, it's not really spoiling stuff, I kind of expect Yang to punch everything by now... what I DIDN'T expect was the Freezerburn teaser at the end which has the community up on its end because it's not Bumblebee... why can't people just accept that two girls can have a completely NON-romantic moment between friends?**

 **Tempest: Ummm, because Yuri is the best?**

 **You... just... uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh**

 **Tempest: Hey, you can't complain! I've seen your Search History!**

 **WAIT WHAT! SON OF A... *runs off***

 **Tempest: Hah! Jokes on him, I already saved half of it to a USB!... for research purposes of course... but anyway, since that dumbass is off trying to figure out how I hacked his computer again, ONTO THE CHAPTER WE GO! And remember to Like, Comment and Subscribe!... wait, that's for Youtube... ummm... just leave a Review, that's good enough for me... as long as it's about me, that is!**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 18:

"What do you mean, there was more than you thought?" spoke the calm and all-but nice voice of one Mistress of Darkness, as she liked to be called, or more commonly known as Salem by most. She was currently standing at the head of the large table in her fortress in the middle of her safe-haven, several of her trusted minions being present at the meeting, although at the current moment, the object of her calm rage was a certain Scorpion Faunus that was tittering away in a corner, trying to look everywhere but at her eyes, his hands shaking from what she assumed was fear while he silently cried to himself as he talked.

"Q-Qrow B-B-Branwen showed u-up" he nervously replied, Salem's eyebrows raising slightly at this information.

"And you could not best him?"

"H-He was d-distracted and I m-managed to h-hurt him but t-the silver-eyed g-girl, she c-cut off my tail!" he cried in dismay, as if it would give him a free pass from receiving the wrath of his Mistress… although, unfortunately for him, Salem didn't take kindly to failures.

"Tyrian… I accepted you into our organisation because I thought you were strong, because I thought you would be an asset… but all you have shown me is that you can't get the job done…" she stated, Tyrian shuddering incessantly with every passing moment.

"B-but…"

"NO EXCUSES!" she roared, his demeaner dropping as he went into more of a catatonic state, the stump of his tail becoming more sporadic as it looked like he was being electrocuted with how fast it was moving. "I expect results… and the fact that you haven't managed to kill a little girl who is barely into school just emphasizes how useless you are"

Tyrian couldn't form any responses in his mind as he was mentally strangling himself, knowing fully well that Salem could be doing the exact same to him in a few moments and he wouldn't get to have another chance to serve her.

"But… I will be merciful for the same reason that Cinder is still here today, I believe in revenge… but know this, the next time you fail me… do not expect to be welcomed back here with open arms" she warned, Tyrian's demeaner instantly dropping most of his fear as joy overtook his features the man collapsing in front of her feet and bowing as low as he could.

"Thank you, oh merciful Mistress!" he repeated over and over, Salem's visage becoming that of disgust as she moved away from the snivelling wreck that was one of her henchmen.

"Get out of here, Watts shall inform you of your next mission" she said, quickly turning to leave him to himself and moved off to a side-room, where one of her Seer-Grimm was waiting, the small bauble of Grimm floating around with long-flowing tentacles with knife-like articles being present on the end of each, the misty composition of its 'head' being glazed over as it sat idly by. She heard the click-clack of high-heels as Cinder followed her into the room, Salem turning to address her.

"When shall we be hearing from Watts, dear Cinder?" she asked in her normal sing-song voice, the woman cringing slightly at being addressed in such a way.

"He is set to appear any minute now…" replied the Autumn Maiden, her voice having now returned from its brief loss after suffering her injuries courtesy of Ruby during the battle of Beacon. As if the Grimm responded to her words, the mists of its mind began shifting and clearing to reveal an image of one of Salem's newest additions to her cause.

"Are you there? Mistress?" came a feeble and fearful voice that was projected through the Seer's connection, Salem's disdain only growing as she realised she couldn't simply just remove him as she saw fit and had to bear with his unbereft demeaner until her plans with him were seen through. He was a reasonably tall man, standing a bit under Watts, with a comparably tame outfit when next to her other henchman, who was standing a few paces behind the Headmaster of Haven Academy.

"I can hear you, dear Lionheart" she relayed, a visible flinch being evident, even though the quality of the image was not as clear as she would have liked it to be, but she had to make do with what she had with the CCT towers being down. "I take it you are not calling simply to waste my time?"

"I would never, Mistress… I, ummm, have managed to find the Spring Maiden"

"Is that so?"

"Yes, Qrow Branwen came to my office earlier today and informed me that she is in the possession of the Branwen Tribe, more specifically in the possession of his sister"

"Very good, Lionheart… you are proving to be a very useful asset with every day that passes…. I hope you do not start to disappoint me in the coming weeks"

"I would never consider it…" he said, his voice wavering slightly, causing her eyes to narrow, a slight wave of fear overcoming him when he saw how she reacted.

"I had hoped as such… now, Watts, I'm afraid I need you back here, dear Tyrian is in need of a new tail"

"What happened this time? A run in with an aforementioned Huntsman perhaps?" replied the man next to Lionheart, stepping forward and fiddling with his moustache for a second.

"Quite so… apparently also at the hands of the Silver-eyed warrior" Salem quipped, seeing Cinder tense next to her, the Mistress' hand lifting from its place to calm her and say 'in due time' without diverting the conversation.

"Hmmm… I always knew he couldn't stand up in a fight, Hazel would have been a better bet… but alas, I shall make haste and carry out your bidding" he said, the feed between Seer-Grimm's cutting out a moment later.

"Interesting… I had not expected the Branwen's to get involved in this" Salem muttered to herself, moving out of the room and back into the main hall, being slightly relieved to find that Hazel was nonchalantly leaning against a nearby wall in wait.

"Is it done?" she asked, remembering the tasks she set him about to collect, a stern nod coming from his rock-like demeaner as he stood alert when he was addressed.

"The boy's dead" he said simply, taking a burlap sack from over his shoulder and throwing it to the floor in front of her, several broken pieces of armour clattering to the floor as they spilled from the opening.

"Very good Hazel, although I do believe I have a new task for you as one of my other 'business partners' has had the unfortunate luck to get himself captured"

"I doubt it… how long has he been in custody"

"He was captured yesterday" she said simply, already guessing the response she would get.

"Huh, I'll get it done" he said begrudged, making a move towards the large set of doors at the entrance to the large meeting room, only for them to be kicked open and a familiar face to waltz through. A large brown duster cloak covered a man in black leather armour with silver armour plating covering some sections, a large, rusted great sword dragging behind him that was kicking up sparks.

 **"** **I would prefer if you stopped doubting my capabilities…"** spoke a harsh and raspy voice, the man stopping just short of Hazel to offer the man a short nod. The new arrival shoved the point of his sword into the ground, causing Salem to slightly cringe as she realised she'd need to fix that sooner or later for it to not piss her off whenever she looked at it.

"Given you latest 'incident' he has every reason to…" Salem quipped, seeing the man tense at her words, only for him to send her a hate-filled glance before he replied.

 **"** **Touché, but considering my employer didn't leave me room for rest on a three-week journey to collect your damnable pet, then I might have had more energy to fight those pests"**

"It was your choice to complete the task on foot, you cannot lay blame on me for this…" Salem retorted, receiving a nod in reply as they ripped their sword from the floor, sending a small spray of concrete into the air, much to her dismay, before pointing it in the air in front of him, a strange black mist surrounding it that continued to grow in size before he slashed it in a wide arc, an object roughly one and a half metres in length and bundled like a mummy in black cloth tumbling from the mist before it dissipated a moment later. He bowed and turned to walk out the door, sending another response over his shoulder as he left.

 **"** **Ensure your worms have transferred my payment by tomorrow"** came the order, Salem clenching her fist as the door seemed to close themselves behind him the second he stepped out into the other room. She turned to the object on the floor and gestured for Hazel to follow her with it, her minion obliging as she herself turned to walk out onto the balcony of the level she was on, Cinder following close behind, a permanent scowl strewn across the Dark Mistress' features.

"Mistress, why did you allow him to speak to you in such a disgusting way!" Cinder questioned, not understanding how her master had literally done nothing against his actions when they would all be reprimanded if they were to talk back, usually in the form of solitary confinement for several days without food or water… or, more prominently, a reminder of the power their Mistress held, which was honestly worse than the jail-time.

"Cinder, I should tell you now just who that is… unfortunately, I have had to acquire his services through a questionable agreement, meaning his loyalty does not lie with me, but with the fact that I can supply him with what he wants for less effort than anyone else he could find"

"Which is…"

"Power… he is driven by a lust to become the most powerful being he can possible become, and I must unfortunately feed that fire if he is to become useful for my plans"

"Then why not just find someone else to fill in his job?"

"That's where the problem lies… there is no one better. He is known as the 'Wolf Knight', or more commonly as a 'Grimm-slayer', one who possesses powers that are specifically designed to combat Grimm and give him every edge in combat he needs. His skills are unmatched in a straight duel and he has never lost to any opponent in a one-on-one, although as you may know, he is less proficient when facing multiple foes. His Semblance can allow for him to hone his senses and abilities to adapt to the target he is facing, giving him every edge he needs to destroy his quarry… the only problem is that it makes him susceptible to outside interference"

"Is that why he was captured?"

"From what I heard from my sources is that he was attacked by those pesky Beacon Students and three of those modified Atlas mechs, which would have been fine for him, had he decided to leave at least an hour to sleep during his trip… he has an annoying habit of following every order to the letter, so if I didn't tell him to rest, then he won't, which is often counter-productive. His latent combat prowess has seen a down-grade ever since his arm was severely injured during a bout three years ago, and so he lost his primary defence, his shield, and so now uses that crooked knife of his… I have no doubt the only reason he lost is because of that, even if the lack of sleep was taken into account"

"You speak of him like he is a threat?"

"Not a threat… more of an inconvenience. I have no doubt that he could kill you or even Hazel, perhaps at the same time, when he is truly trying and he has enough power to wound me, but a revolution on his part would not do much to alter my plans"

Cinder decidedly shut her mouth after that, knowing the conversation was literally going nowhere and all she had gathered was that there was someone more valuable to Salem than her… and that was bad. Salem sensed that the questioning was over and so turned her attention back to the large object that was slung over Hazel's shoulder, who was currently trying (and failing) to hide the fact that he had been listening to the two's conversation.

"Hazel, throw it off the side…" she commanded, her henchmen following the order without question, hefting the rather large object over the side and down towards the ground below, only for it to fall with a large splash into a Grimm birthing pit far below the balcony. Cinder looked curiously over the edge and saw as the pit began bubbling violently as something was sprawling from beneath the surface. It lasted only for a few moments before the surface of the small lake settled back to normal and only a few small bubbles were coming to the surface every ten seconds or so, like something was breathing beneath it.

"What is that…" she said in awe, not ever seeing anything like that happening before, even in her reasonably long service to her Mistress.

"That is what happens when one of my Pawns expires before they become unneeded… I am just ensuring they pay their debt in full…"

 **[City of Mistral – Industrial District]**

Neo sat as quietly as she could, letting the cold air of the night brush her hair in the wind, producing a cold sensation across her skin that caused shivers to run up her body, doing nothing to stop the burning sensation that made itself present around her eyes, a result of the tears that had long since dried up from hours of her pointless crying.

Her clothes were a mess, something she scolded herself for as she would have normally avoided such a stupid act as she had no spares, but it didn't take long for her to forget it completely and go back to other thoughts. The previously pristine white of her overcoat and boots were now an off-white taint with stains of mud and grit covering them, with the rest of her clothing being in much the same state, the ends of her cuffs and the tail of her coat having small tears and many threads lying loose.

This was mostly as a result of her method of traversal through the city. She had neglected to think of anything as she blundered through the labyrinthian streets of Mistral, catching her clothing and hair on bushes and outcroppings that stuck out into the street in which she was rushing through, bumping into people left and right, not opening her ears to hear their startled cries in the night air, not stopping until she found the quietest place she could.

Her legs were currently dangling off the high ledge of one of the many industrial warehouses that found themselves on the lower-levels of the Mistral, stone grey blocks of production houses and construction cranes stretching for a fair while in her field of view, a lush green forest barely visible along the house-line on the horizon, the inability to discern its true nature emphasised by the fact that the lack of light during the cold night didn't allow for much illumination.

She stared out along the horizon, searching as if something would miraculously help solve her problems, as if someone would come along and whisk her away to a better life… but she doubted that would ever happen. The pristine bowler hat and heavy cane of her former carer sat beside her on the roof, the small girl wishing that the all-knowing nature of his care would once again come to council her in her plight.

But, as she had always thought, she was alone in this cruel world, and she didn't deserve anything more, not after all the blood she had spilled, all the innocent lives that mattered, all because she had made a mistake during a time when everything was simple, when a blade in the back was the worst thing that could possibly happen… but now she understood that death was by far the best thing to happen to anyone who was being hunted by the people she had pissed off. And now, she had no protection, no Cinder to protect her anymore, she was stuck on her own with nowhere to go.

A silent cry escaped her throat as she once again collapsed into tears, her mind wandering to everything that had happened in the past months. She thought she had finally found happiness, that once Roman had finished their job with Cinder, they'd both move off and start a new life off in some other Kingdom, but that was torn away… and then she had met her knight in shining armour, someone who didn't treat her as a common criminal, as a coldblooded murderer… but as herself… the Neopolitan who was beneath the cold exterior she put on for show.

But even that… she should never had hoped for him to see her as anything else but that, just another friend in his life. But even then, was he truly her friend? She was sure that he was getting her subtle hints that she wanted something a bit more than friendship, but when she was on the verge of letting him know, when she was finally ready to say it for herself… it was torn away in a heartbeat, after that other woman was there… and he had gone on kissing her right in front of her eyes, mocking her as if to say it never would have happened. Did he do it just to spite her? Because he knew that she didn't deserve happiness? Did he really even care that she was gone?

She tried to push her thoughts back into the abyss of her mind… he was better than that… right? He had given her far more than anyone else had even considered, given her a home and treated her just like his friends, he certainly wouldn't have faked that? Right? Plus, he had let her see his actual face, and if what the two members of RWBY said was true, then it really was a rare sight to behold. She couldn't imagine what Cinder would think of his silver eye, though… whenever the plans concerning the little girl in red came up, she would never say her actual name, even though Neo knew that she knew it as well, only ever speaking of her as the 'silver-eyed warrior' as if that was the only notable thing about her, yet she acted as if the girl would throw a hitch in all her plans.

Neo flinched slightly when she realised just who she was talking about… the girl who was responsible for Roman's death. When she had seen her in the corridor, she could barely restrain herself. Right in front of her was the girl that was the only reason she had lost him… but she had stayed her hand when she saw the child hug Demon. That moment allowed her to put her thoughts in order and realise a few things, the first and foremost being that Cinder was to blame for Roman's death, no one else, and if she was going to be killing anyone, it would be that raven-haired pyromancer any day before she even once again considered killing the innocent girl that was Ruby Rose.

As she gazed into the cold night once again, she let her thoughts flow out of her mind, clearing it once again so that she could think straight and banish any thoughts of before. Right now, she was focusing on just what she would be doing. Finding a place to stay would be the first priority. Right now, Mistral would have to suffice, although she'd have to stowaway on any outbound flights to avoid Cinder's assault on Haven, then she'd have to find some way to earn money again, possibly going back to being a body-guard for someone…

When she had finished thinking of a semi-reasonable plan for where she was going, only then did she realise something strange was in her field of view. On one of the rooftops, far off in the distance, almost too small to see, was a small fleck of light that was flashing every so often, probably reflecting off a mirror or something like that, until she saw a small flash accompany it from slightly underneath the larger one. She didn't quite put two and two together until something impacted the ground next to her and carved a reasonably sized scar into the concrete, courtesy of the sniper bullet that had just barely missed her small figure.

With years of practice under her belt, she wasn't at all phased at being shot at, so with professional ease, she grabbed the bowler hat and cane, teleporting to the streets below an instant later. She immediately broke into a run, knowing the assailant would no doubt try and find her when they saw she wasn't hit… although she never got far enough away to think of anything more. The second she rounded the next corner on the district, she didn't have any time to put up any semblance of a defence before something hard impacted against her head, her vision turning black instantly as she was knocked out cold…

 **[Unknown period of time later – Unknown location]**

Neo was woken up rather abruptly when a bucket of freezing cold water was splashed across her face, causing the little mute to cough roughly when she unknowingly inhaled a small amount of liquid when gasping for breath, coughing it up a moment later as her eyes peeled open from shock. She instantly took in her surroundings, a cold grey room, barely enough to fit a car in, with her chained to the wall by shackles, her toes barely touching the cold concrete below, being low enough so that they could touch, but she couldn't actually put any weight on them to lessen the strain on her wrists.

She could already tell her Aura was broken, thanks to the fact she could feel the many cuts and bruises across her skin that plagued her body, her entire being lacking enough energy to do more than move her head around, that simple action almost being too much when she combined it with the fact that her eyes strained with the light that came from a small lampshade that hung from the ceiling, the only thing that shone light in the still dark room.

And next were the other two occupants of the room. Two men stood across from her, leaning up against the wall, one of the holding an empty bucket which previously contained the water from before. Both were burly, standing at least two feet above her height, each wearing pristine black suits and ties, with guns strapped to their thighs and thick, black sunglasses covering their expression.

"Lookie here Micky, the little girl's awake!" one of them remarked, the same guard that had splashed the water over her.

"You're right Jack! We better give her a proper introduction" the other one mocked, a sick smile coming to his face as the other one spoke up.

"Hello little Neopolitan, we've heard so much about you! Specifically, about how much the boss wants to carve you up and stick your head on a pole for busting up his dad!" spoke the thug, Neo cringing when she realised just who she was dealing with now… the very gang that wanted her dead. She guessed her info was wrong about how they didn't operate in Mistral anymore… what a time to be wrong.

"We're going to be keeping you nice and alive until the boss gets here so he can dish out your 'proper' punishment, although he did say something else… we can make you feel a bit more 'comfortable' in your new home" he said, the sickening smile turning even darker when she realised where he was looking. She desperately tried to break out of her chains, pulling whatever energy she had left into hopefully at least breaking a shackle or something, knowing fully well that her Semblance was all but useless now as she couldn't use it if something was anchoring her in place, but her struggling did little to help her out of her current bind, and did even less to help cover up her body, which she only now realised didn't have anything to cover it aside from her dishevelled hair that at least covered the upper parts well enough.

"Don't struggle little girl, it'll only make it harder for you!" the second one joked as they both stepped forward, Neo shaking her head as if the act would save her from what was to come. The lead one stepped forward while the other one performed the disgusting act of unbuckling his belt, the first stretching out his hand with that same sick grin from before strewn over his features, the arm inching ever closer… until he suddenly stopped in his place.

He stood stock still for a few moments his face filling with confusion as he stared strangely at his arm until, without any explanation, the arm he had been reaching out with fell to the floor, a spurt of blood spraying on the floor as he recoiled in pain.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH" he screamed as he tried desperately to stem the bleeding from his cut limb, the other guard instantly pulling out his pistol and aiming it at Neo with hate in his eyes.

"WHAT DID YOU DO, YOU BITCH!" he screamed, searching for an explanation, only to come up short when he saw just how confused Neo was as well. His hands began shaking as he swept the weapon around the room to search for whatever had caused the cut, only for said pistol to suddenly be thrown out of his hands by another unseen force. The man sure as hell didn't know what was going on, but he knew he was in a losing fight.

With a crazed haste, he jumped towards the door, shaking the handle only to find that it had been locked from the outside. He squeaked in shock and fumbled around in his pockets for the keys, only to drop them on the floor in his hysteria. When he bent down on the floor, he stopped when he saw something that made his blood run cold. Directly next to the set of keys was blood-red segmented armour, the large blade of an odachi casually stabbed into the floor next to them. He slowly looked up and was further pushed into a state of shock when he saw just who it was.

"M-m-m…" he murmured out, not having long enough time to come up with a response before his head fell to the floor, its eyes going wide in his last moments of life as blood splurged on the door, the lifeless body collapsing against the cold grey threshold with its pants falling all the way down due to the unbuckled belt, showing that his bowels had decidedly emptied themselves into his undergarments, producing a disturbing stain upon them that was covered moments later as blood seeped through his clothing.

The other guard had somewhat recovered from the shock of having his arm removed, glaring intently at the intruder with hate in his eyes as he held the stump of his appendage, using his jacket to stem the bleeding.

"When the boss hears about this, he'll have your head!" warned the guard, the intruder letting out a small laugh before their weapon flashed forward and removed the man of the burden of his head, much like the other one.

"Too bad he won't be alive to do anything either…" came a decidedly feminine voice from behind the distorting armour of a Grimm mask, their blade flashing quickly in the small space of the cell to sever the chains leaving Neo connected to the wall, the girl falling to the floor in a heap only to be picked up a moment later by said intruder. When the small girl looked up to see just who had saved her, she almost wished that it was the grim-reaper themselves coming to save them rather than her current 'knight in shining armour'.

She was currently in the arms of one Raven Branwen, the very woman that had been there when she almost ended the blonde girl's life, although she was more scared for the fact that it was Demon's mother she was looking at.

"Hmmmm… you poor girl" she muttered, Neo shivering as she only now realised how cold it was in the room. The ice-cream assassin only stopped shuddering when she realised the tone of voice that the woman had used, it almost sounded… genuinely concerned? That couldn't be right though. She looked up to look at the woman and saw piercing red eyes staring through the white of the Grimm mask. Raven seemed to be able to read her mind through her look, smirking as she took off her helmet and placed it to the side.

"Fret not girl, I'm not here to kill you… even though you were going to kill my daughter, I owe Roman a favour, and since what happened at Beacon that falls to you… and now we're even" she explained, Neo nodding slowly at the woman, who then switched to a more motherly tone.

"Now, let's get you cleaned up" she said, flicking her odachi while still holding onto her, summoning a portal above them, through which a bundle of simple clothing fell through. She stabbed the weapon into the ground and carefully laid Neo on the ground, unfolding the fabrics and putting them on the girl very carefully. Neo didn't have any energy left to assist in the action, and even when she feebly tried to lift up a hand to try and show a tiny bit of compliance, the woman just shooed it away after saying a quick 'just rest' as she continued her work.

Once Neo was suitably clothed, Raven stood and nodded at her handiwork, grabbing her odachi and slashing it to create another portal. She began to step towards it, only to be drawn back to the dishevelled figure of Neo what was desperately trying to crawl towards her, seeking any form of salvation from her prison. Raven's smile faltered at the act and reached down, caressing the girl's hair, trying to put it back into some semblance of her previous look.

"Don't worry, I'm not leaving you here… there is someone else who will get you out of here, just don't go slandering the next opportunity, just explain how you feel and he'll figure something out…" she explained, Neo tilting her head in confusion while Raven just let out a small laugh.

"He's one of the densest people I've ever met and anything relating to people, he needs spelt out to him letter by letter… just explain and I'm certain he'll at least consider it" she said again, Neo finally getting what she meant as her cheeks flushed pink in embarrassment, Raven letting another small laugh reverberate around the room. She finally stepped through the portal and disappeared from view, Neo once again being subjected to the cold silence of the room.

She looked around at the surrounding area, crawling over slowly and picking up the pistol that the guard had dropped, deciding that it was better if she was armed as well. As she sat in silence in the room, not really being fazed by the metallic smell of the blood that permeated throughout, being used to the side-effects of murder in her line of work, but she still felt it slightly unnerving that Raven had managed to get in here without either of them noticing… just how dangerous was that woman?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the dull thumps of something outside the room, some plaster on the ceiling falling from an unseen shaking and in turn causing the hanging lamp to shake. With her curiosity piqued, she crawled slowly over to the door, shoving aside the dead body and pressed her ear against the cold metal, straining her senses to try and discern just what was happening. Several smaller thumps occurred at seemingly random intervals during the time she was listening, followed by a decidedly larger thump that once again shook plaster from the ceiling and caused the hanging lamp to shake.

As she pressed harder against the door to try and hear better, the door swung open from the weight, apparently being unlocked in the time between when the guard had tried before and now. It opened slowly considering the fact that her body didn't weigh much, but it opened up enough for her to get a look of the outside.

She was in an underground facility, or something along those lines, as around a hundred metres of solid grey concrete stretched out towards a T intercection at the end, illumination of the dull corridor being found from bars of lights on the ceiling, also reveleaing several other cells that lined both walls of the facility. She slowly shoved the door open enough to get her body through, having to throw all of her weight against it just to move it slowly, succeeding after roughly a minute of trying.

She slowly crawled out of the cell, moving as swiftly as she could towards the end of the corridor where the only exit could be, the pistol she procured being held in her grip even as she struggled to move with it on hand, she couldn't risk being caught without some sort of armament. As she slowly moved her body painfully across the cold concrete of the corridor, she heard the large thumps again, much clearer this time, and definitely audible as explosions this time.

Her advance was halted as she was a mere ten metres from the end of the corridor, when the screeching sound of moving metal interrupted her crawl, a light shining form an unseen source to the left of the corridor, loud voices echoing through the halls. She didn't have a chance to hear any of them as their voices reverberated too much around the small space to be heard clearly, but that didn't matter as the loud clatter of gunfire interrupted their speech and four soft thumps were heard proceeding the muzzle flashes that accompanied the sounds. She didn't hear anything for a few seconds before an ominous clattering came from where the voices were, a loud clanking that sounded like warped footsteps.

Neo tensed and brought up her pistol, aiming it haphazardly at the entrance in her trembling hands, knowing fully well that if it was any more than one person, she'd be dead… but when she saw who it was, fresh tears came to her eyes.

"NEO!" came a joyous and familiar tone as another figure in blood-red samurai armour lunged towards her to embrace the petite frame of the girl, tears flowing from both of their eyes at the reunion. The girl could only let out silent cries of relief at getting out of this hellhole, knowing that she honestly wouldn't have survived even a day in this place.

"Are you alright?" spoke the extremely concerned voice of her saviour, one Hawk Branwen, as he cradled her broken form in his arms, his mask forgone and his odachi slung over his back, a small dripping of blood coming off the already red blade. The girl nodded as a fresh wave of nausea overtook her senses, the fatigue from having her aura broken and from the beatings that no-doubt occurred during her unconsciousness. Her eyelids drooped and Demon flinched slightly, until the soft breathing of sleep came from the small form in his arms, a small smile coming over his features as he stood up slowly, ensuring to not wake the sleeping figure, then walked off out the way he came.

As he turned the corner, he saw the four guards he had shot dead sitting against the walls with plumes of blood splatter painting the grey concrete, not a single ounce of regret making itself present in his mind. He had done his research, back in Vale, about the goings-on of the local gangs and he had already read up on everything this one had done, and he knew that in no way did they deserve the quick death he gave them. On top of the drugs, prostitution and gun trafficking they were known for, they dealt in human trafficking, extortion, murder and other disgusting practices that he ever wanted to think of again.

After stepping up a small set of stairs onto the main level of the building they were in, he felt the heat radiating from the burnt wrecks of what was one of their major drug-production plants, several distilleries and moving vehicles now being smouldering fires and in no condition to continue their work, as were the personnel throughout the building. Sure, he'd let the normal workers go as they were either extorted or were paying back debts they owed to the gang, but any of the actual members were either severely lacking a large number of body parts or could now have a fist fitted through the hole in their head, courtesy of the .45 calibre bullets that the B3 Wingman could spit out.

He shuffled throughout the warehouse, already hearing the sirens of the local police as they no-doubt noticed the plumes of black smoke billowing out of the top of the building, his pace quickening slightly as he knew he didn't have much time to make himself scarce. A few minutes later and he was sitting outside on one of the nearby rooftops watching several cop cars surrounding said warehouse and scrounging through the rubble.

Demon smirked at his handiwork before looking down to the sleeping form of Neo, feeling a pang of sadness for the small girl. He had found Roman's Bowler hat and Cane, as well as her own Parasol lying on the ground discarded in one of the many back-alleys of Mistral's industrial district, only coming across them purely by chance while searching desperately for any sign of the petite assassin. After discerning just what had happened, finding several scuff-marks and tire skids, he got a general idea of where they were and spent almost a day searching all possible locations for where she was being held.

With a quick reach into the back of his satchel, he pulled out his Scroll, searching through the Local Area Network, something he only recently learned existed after being yelled at by Ruby for ten minutes about not knowing how a scroll works, until he found what he was looking for. He connected to the frequency and immediately sent a message across.

"I've found her guys, call off the search and head back to the room, I'll meet you there by tomorrow, she needs time to recover…" he said, getting a reply from everyone on the network.

"Thank god, and here I thought we'd end up wasting a perfectly good drinking night!" announced Tempest with glee, a loud smack being heard a second later, no doubt courtesy of Yang who responded next.

"We're glad you found her, see you soon"

"Get home safe!" chastised Ruby next, an affirming grunt coming from Weiss who was with her, while the rest of them gave different variations of the same message, the frequency cutting out a moment later as they all began heading back. He still had no idea how he got everyone to agree to go searching for Neo, especially Ruby and Yang who've had their fair share of run-ins with the girl, but they seemed to put that aside in some form when they heard how concerned he was.

Demon sighed and picked Neo up carefully, looking her over for damage. Aside from the cuts that covered her body, she didn't seem to be too heavily damaged, although he feared for what would have happened if she was left there any longer than a day.

With a quick sigh, he took out his knife and took it to the crook in his armour near his wrist, quickly slashing it across to draw blood and hissing from the slight pain. He let it pool on the ground in front of him, watching it with mute interest, until he deemed there was enough, covering the cut with a cut-off of cloth he carried around with him. Demon reached out with his arm and placed it on Neo's shoulder, using the same process he had used back during the Bullhead crash to help heal her injuries.

He had discovered a few things about his new-found power over the time he had used it, mainly that it was a terrible plan to try and use it without a ready supply of blood around, mainly because it would directly siphon from his Aura and life-force, sapping him of energy and strength, until he traded what was essentially the same as what he was giving the person. But, even if he used his own blood to use in the trade, it wouldn't sap directly from him and instead burn through the blood pooled first and minimise damage to himself, and even completely stop it if there was enough gathered… he really didn't want to repeat the process of finding about that though.

One drawback was that if he wanted to heal himself with the blood, it wouldn't directly heal wounds, as it would with everyone else, but it would only slightly change his Aura depending on how much he absorbed, which was a handy thing to have during a fight, but even then, a literal cup full of blood would only give him around 5% Aura re-charge and it took about thirty seconds to absorb that much.

He felt the pressure build in his hands and began the process, feeling the all-too-familiar burning sensation in his palm as the blood pooled at his feet began to evaporate, much like a Grimm would as always, until he began to see Neo's injuries seal together. After a minute, all of the wounds and bruises were gone and he slowly saw her eyes began to flutter open. The girl yawned as her eyes opened, something which Demon had to say was one of the most adorable things he'd ever seen, his eyes locking with hers as she woke up from her sleep.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked again, receiving a small nod from the figure in his arms, her features still lined with fatigue from her ordeal. She yawned again and pulled herself closer to his body, trying to find heat as her body was shivering from the cold night air. Demon quickly understood what she was trying to do and began walking down to the streets where Cerberus was waiting below, Roman's cane and hat put inside the satchel with Neo's parasol as well. He strode up to the bike and reached into the satchel hanging off the back, taking out his Lien supply as well as a local map. He scrutinised the paper for a few seconds until he folded it back up and placed it back in the satchel.

With a careful stride, he strolled down the street, carefully massaging Neo's back to calm her down as he heard the small patter of tears on his chest as she struggled to keep a calm composure.

"Did they do anything to you?" he asked, making small talk to try and stop her mind from wandering, ensuring that she would get over this as soon as possible. She looked up out of his chest, her eyes slightly puffy from the crying, but she nonetheless ensured a response, shaking her head to make sure he understood. He raised an eyebrow and repeated the question.

"Neo, I'm sure they did at least something given the state you were in… I'm not going to stop asking until you tell me" he stated, determined to find out what they had done, the small girl shrinking back from his words, her eyes avoiding contact with his for a while. She reached around and took out a scroll, tapping out a response for a few seconds before letting him see it.

' _They only beat me, nothing else…'_ read the message, although Neo herself didn't even know if that was true, she didn't even know how long she had been there for, lest what they actually did to her in that time. Demon read it over and nodded, looking at Neo to try and see if she was lying, but didn't see enough doubt in her expression to warrant any further questioning. He nodded to say he got the message and she took back the scroll, typing quickly for a bit as she formulated a question of her own.

 _'_ _how long did they have me for? And where are we going?'_

"Well, it's been a day since you… left. And as to where we're going, you'll just have to find out" he replied, adding a small smirk at the end to try and lighten the message after she cringed slightly when he mentioned her leave. She thought back to what Raven had said back in the scroll, bundling up as much courage as she could for what she would do next. Neo carefully grabbed his attention, tapping him on the shoulder until he looked her way, then began her explanation.

She pointed at her own chest carefully, more specifically to her heart, then with carefully pressed it against Demon's in the same place, her cheeks beginning to turn pink with embarrassment when she realised she had actually gone through with it, her smile faded and she pressed herself back against him to hide her face, hoping that he didn't understand or something along those lines so she wouldn't have to deal with the backlash, so at least she could continue travelling with them and wouldn't be left behind.

When Demon reached down to grab her attention himself, she flinched at his touch and tentatively looked back up at him, afraid of how he'd react to her, but where she expected perhaps disgust or rage, she only saw caring eyes and the barest hints of a smile.

"Don't worry, you don't need to explain… the others made it painfully obvious to me after I couldn't find you" he said with guilt obvious in his voice, his eyes wandering for a bit before going back to hers as he said his next sentence with as much sincerity as possible, "I'm sorry… I should have noticed a long time ago and I'm to blame for leading you on and making you feel this way… Rosaline and I have been going out for a while and I can't even begin to think of why I didn't mention her to you, but either way, I won't think any different of you for this…" he explained, Neo sitting through the explanation with a straight face, trying to mask her emotions as her mind went into overdrive with what was being said.

"All I want to say is that please don't leave…" finished Demon, looking at her pleadingly, the girl being on the verge on letting even more tears flow after she tried to comprehend what he was saying. She nodded slowly before smiling with a smile that even she herself couldn't tell where it came from as her entire being was filled with a strange sense of happiness. Neo threw her arms around his shoulders and hugged him as much as she could, hoping he thought it was ok, only for her prayers to be answered when he returned the hug tenderly, filling her with a seemingly endless warm feeling in her chest.

They sat still for a while, finding comfort in the embrace of each other, until Demon reluctantly broke off from the hug, gesturing in front of him to where they were. Neo turned to see that they were now standing in front of a rather expensive looking clothing shop, the girl turning to Demon for an explanation.

"We can't have you walking around in those rags, and your old outfit isn't exactly in a position to be used anymore" spoke Demon, Neo nodding as she tapped him on the shoulder, pointing to the ground to show him that she wanted to walk. He obliged and carefully lowered her to the ground, a shiver running up her back as her bare feet touched the ground below, the girl supressing the discomfort as she strode into the store, Demon in tow a few steps behind.

The two of them were greeted by the store security, a young-looking woman who looked way too skinny to be working as a security guard, who recoiled for a moment after seeing the condition they were in, only to recollect themselves a moment later to address them.

"Good evening and welcome to Reiker's Apparrel!" she said cheerfully, her expression turning slightly more concerned when she noticed just the state the two of them were in.

"Good evening to you too" spoke Demon, Neo turning when she noticed something slightly off as she turned to find he had wrapped a black scarf around his mouth and nose to block anyone's view of his face again. The guard noticed the large odachi on his back and was about to ask for an ID, although didn't get the chance to as he held up his Beacon Academy Licence to show that he was cleared to carry weapons on his person. She read it over carefully, with her eyes widening significantly when she noticed where he was from.

"You're from Beacon!" she questioned, looking at him in disbelief.

"We both are, we're coming here to continue out studies and still graduate" he lied, the woman nodding at the explanation.

"Well, I can't say I understand what you've been through but I feel sorry for you… here, take this" she said, taking out a discount voucher and handing it over to him, Demon thanking her before walking through with Neo into the main shop, being greeted with the sight of hundreds upon hundreds of dresses and various fashion items that would be any woman's dream. Neo looked back to him and he smiled as he gestured to the entire store in front of him.

"Buy anything you want, it's my treat" he said, Neo's smile faltering as she shook her head, Demon's head tilting in confusion. She pointed at him and then at the store again, crossing her arms while trying to look as intimidating as possible.

"You want me to pick it?" he said slowly, Neo nodding her head in affirmation while he just sighed, a smile making its way onto her face when she saw the reaction. "I'm not saying that's a terrible idea… but I have no sense for fashion"

She set her visage to a deadpan expression and poked him in the side, pushing him towards the clothes with as much strength as she could muster, not really doing anything as he had to move himself if it were to appear as if he had even budged. He strolled through the ailes and looked through just about every single selection of clothing he could think of, ignoring the laungerie of course, until he had found that he was back to the front of the store again.

Demon scratched his head, trying to think of how he had managed to do that, before Neo once again poked him in the side to grab his attention. She looked at him and tilted her head as if to say 'well, did you find anything', only for him to shake his head in the negative, the girl deadpanning again and face-palming to add to her disappointment.

"I told you, I'm terrible at fashion…" he said again to emphasise the point, moving to once again go through the store and see if anything cought his eye, only for the current store attendant to come up to them and metaphorically save the day.

"Hello you two, looking for some new clothes?" said an older-looking lady who was dressed in what Demon could practically see as a VERY expensive get-up, with enough make-up on for them to look at least ten years younger than they should, yet they still spoke with a noticeably calm voice that did nothing to display her emotions reguarding her two current clients, something he assumed she had picked up after many years of working in the business.

"Not for me, but for my companion here… she insisted I pick out something that she would like, but I'm not very good with these kinds of things" Demon admitted, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment while the woman nodded in understanding.

"I see, well where is this fine young lady?" she asked, looking around, until she saw a glimpse of Neo as the girl was switching between isles, the woman's eyes going wide as she quickly walked over to get a proper view. When she saw Neo, she practically squealed as she leapt forward and picked her up, not much of a feat considering her size, and spun her around in the air.

"You are the cutest thing I've ever seen!" she exclaimed, Neo recovering from the shock to sport a new blush on her features as she reluctantly stayed in the woman's grip until she was put down, staring at the store attendant as though she was the literal devil.

"Such beautiful hair and eyes! I've got just the thing for you!" exclaimed the woman as she hurried off to the back of the shop, leaving Demon and Neo to sit in the shop alone. Neo raised an eyebrow at him, asking for an explanation and he just shrugged.

"She offered to help, so I figured it was better than letting me pick"

Neo pouted at his answer and took out his scroll, typing a few letters and then jamming it back in his hands.

' _You're still not off the hook, though'_

"What do you mean 'off the hook'? What have I done?" he retorted, raising his own eyebrow in question, only for Neo to cock her head to the side slightly and put her hands on her hips, staring at him for a few seconds and giving him more time to think. After a good few seconds he sighed and admitted defeat, slouching back slightly as he leant against a nearby wall.

"Yeah, I kinda do owe you for 'that', so how about I treat you to something tonight?" he asked, Neo scratching her chin in thought for a few seconds before nodding vigorously with a smile. Demon smirked at the response and leant back into the wall, letting his thoughts overtake him again, until the store clerk came back holding two large paper bags that were filled to the brim. She happily handed them over with a smile to Neo and ushered her off to the changing rooms, returning to Demon with slightly less of a cheery expression, her smile looking as forced as it would for any other customer she felt discomfort with. She took out a measuring tape, quickly ducking around him with expertise in her trade before stepping back and nodding.

"Here you go, young man…" she offered, handing over his own bag, which he looked through to see that it contained an outfit for him that looked way too expensive for his tastes, being even less appealing when he realised he didn't make any of his personal adjustments to them either.

"I really don't need this, we only came for her clothes" he said, the woman's expression changing ever-so-slighty to contain the barest hints of anger as she looked him in the eyes as seriously as she could.

"It would be the highest of insults to go around with her in… that… so this is far more accommodating for a night in the town"

Demon was just about to retort when he realised he didn't even have his 'formal-wear' outfit that he left back at the Inn with the rest of their group, literally having nothing else than what would be essential for tracking down Neo. He reached forward and accepted it with a 'thanks', moving off to the men's changing rooms and beginning the laborious task of removing his armour. He unwrapped his scarf and hung it off one of the hooks on the side and spent some time taking a small look at his face.

His hair had grown a small amount since when he left for Vale, the massive tangle of locks being slightly unkempt as he never had the time to properly brush or care for it… he knew how long it would take to do it properly, and only someone like Yang would ever understand. The only other notable feature was that he had a small amount of stubble around his chin, having enough for it to almost be considered a 9 o'clock shadow style, but not quite.

Next was his gauntlets, which he carefully unstrapped from his arms and placed on the nearby holding table, unwrapping the protective bandages from beneath and relishing the feeling of air once again being able to reach his arm. He quickly checked on the strange markings on his right arm and almost had a heart attack when he saw that they had changed since last time. The distinctive mark in the centre of his palm was still there, now looking like a black blight that had spread slightly to resemble a darkened sun, with the same trail of burns running up his arm like a tattoo, the wrappings now looking surprisingly tribal, his eyes picking up on a few strange symbols written along the lengths, although nothing he could translate.

He dismissed it and continued, removing his chestplate after spending almost five minutes loosening the release straps on the back, something that basically required two people, which was a bit ironic considering he was the only person to ever actually use it. The thing weighed a tonne and so he quickly placed it on the floor, relishing the fact that he now weighed a lot less without the armour on, the process being finished when he released his shin and boot armour, taking them off and placing them with the rest of his armour.

Now he was only wearing his under-armour, which consisted of his solid-black undersuit with a slightly layer of Kevlar padding, resembling a simple black t-shirt and long pants which allowed his armour to sit on him without irritating the skin beneath.

Looking through the bag he was given, he sighed as he pulled out a set of formal pants, a white formal shirt, with a tie included, and a black tuxedo with coat-tails at the back, Demon disregarding the shoes as he had vowed never to wear formal shoes again after the pain they caused him back in school, although he knew the black combat boots he wore underneath his leg plating would do just as well as foot-wear.

Taking the time to thoroughly put on his wear, revelling in the fact that it seemed to fit him perfectly, he checked himself in the mirror and smiled at what he saw. He could thoroughly say he looked like a butler, with gold-button that he only now saw on the suit and a pocket-watch hanging from his chest into his breast pocket, he could say it definitely was a bit more formal than his previous get-up.

Not wanting to be caught off-guard, though, he had ensured that he still had a knife sheath on the inside of his jacket and a small pistol holster at the small of his back that he could reach in an instant, his black scarf being wound around his neck and mouth again to cover his identity again. Linking the armour together into its stationary mode, being literally the size of a large briefcase and just as easy to carry (disregarding the weight), he strolled out of the changing rooms and back into the main shop, seeing the woman waiting for him and nodding approvingly when she saw his outfit.

"Well, you clean up well" she complimented, Demon bowing out of respect as he couldn't really smile to return the favour or make any form of response holding his armour in his right hand and the bag in his left.

"Thank you for the chance, I shouldn't have doubted you" he replied, giving her back the bag and giving her his Lien cards, hoping that he had enough money to pay for both his and Neo's new clothes, even with the discount card included. She happily accepted it and walked off to pay for it, Demon briskly walking outside to store his armour on the side of Cerberus, hooking his odachi onto the side as well so he didn't have to walk back in with his weapon. He strolled through the doors again, receiving another hello from the security guard and a complement on his choice, until he was back inside again. He walked through the store and the store attendant came up and handed him back his card, with a receipt as well. His expression paled when he saw the cost but he regretfully signed to confirm his purchase, the attendant smiling gleefully as she went off.

He sighed and leant against a nearby wall, waiting for Neo to finish changing, wondering how it was taking her longer to change than it had for him to get out of his armour, change into it again AND do everything else he had. His thought process was broken when he felt a small tugging on the sleeve of his jacket and looked down to find Neo in her new outfit, his jaw dropping when he saw what she was wearing.

Neo was wearing a traditional Kimono that stretched to just above her ankles, parting on her left leg to expose the thing-high black stockings she had on, with long sleeves that had large openings at the end that draped down by her side. The Kimono was a predominantly a warm pink colour, with blazing red floral embroidery along its length and gold trimmings along the edges. Her waist was pulled in by a deep brown corset that accentuated her… sizable 'assets', as well as pulling in the Kimono to stop it simply falling off.

Wooden Geta were worn on her feet to finish off the 'traditional' Japanese look, with her hair being pulled into a pony-tail that had somehow perfectly blended the brown and pink of her hair. Demon could only gawk as he tried to take in the whole outfit while Neo stood in front of him with a large blush adorning her features while she looked at the ground, trying to avoid eye-contact.

"You look… beautiful…" Demon mumbled out, Neo's blush deepening as she seemed to shrink back away in embarrassment, only for the store attendant to 'accidentally' push her forward and causing her to fall onto Demon. This only caused her to nearly faint from embarrassment and settle for practically burrowing into his embrace to stop him looking at her, trying desperately to hide her expression.

Demon, meanwhile, wasn't exactly understanding the kind of situation Neo was in and settled for giving in and hiding her by hugging her small figure, turning to the attendant who was sporting a victorious smirk. He sighed and nodded to her in appreciation, her smirk turning even more devilish as she turned to go back to the store's counter.

"You better take care of her, I don't want to have to come and find you to beat you to a pulp for breaking such a fine young ladies heart" she chastised, Demon sighing and turning to leave the store, carefully guiding Neo so she didn't have to break her position to move properly.

"Don't worry, I'm going to do my very best to make sure she won't have to be hurt ever again…" he said with as much conviction as possible, feeling Neo pull herself closer to his chest, knowing he got the intended message across. He knew it would be impossible to be how Neo wanted him to be, if he was guessing right that is, if he was still dating Rosaline, something which he figured out he still enjoyed just as much as having the little ice-cream assassin around judging by how his heart leapt after seeing Rosaline after such a long time.

But, that didn't mean he would just abandon her and forget about her feelings entirely. He would make sure that she would still feel valued and he would care for her, although he knew he couldn't do it in the same way he did with Rosaline, he would just do it in his own special way. Although, during his contemplation, he had realised something which may change how Neo felt about him, and not in a necessarily good way, which was one of the reasons for going where he was next.

"Neo, are you alright with riding Cerberus in that?" he asked, feeling a light two taps on his back for an answer. Going ahead, he stepped up to it and swung his legs over, carefully picking up Neo and placing her on the rear seat where she immediately shuffled forward and wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her body to his back, still being embarrassed about her outfit and still trying to hide her blush. Demon smiled briefly and turned back to the task at hand, putting on a small collapsible helmet he kept for emergency and turned the keys while revving the engine, quickly remembering to put on Neo's own helmet for safety, struggling to not disrupt her hair while trying to put it on while she insisted on staying in the same position.

Once that was done, he slowly made his way to the main road and they drove for a few minutes, turning off a seemingly simple road that led to the commercial district, several large signs posting advertisements for various shops and items, all of which he ignored as he searched for his real destination. He spotted a small sign for it, almost by accident, and quickly turned off into the parking lot, carefully wheeling Cerberus into a slot and turning off the engine. He replaced the helmets in their original position and tried to get off, only to find Neo was still firmly attached to his back.

"Come on Neo, it's going to be uncomfortable for you to stay like this for the rest of the night" he deadpanned, the girl slowly prying herself from him with his heart sinking when he saw that she had been crying for quite some time.

"Neo…" he said sadly, hating it when he saw her crying, but he was cut short when she held up his scroll with a message on it.

 _'_ _Why are you being so nice to me!'_ she demanded, her expression looking somewhere between desperation and complete heartbreak.

"Because, you deserve more and currently I can't give you anything… dating Rosaline was a commitment I made a long time ago and I'm not intending to break that promise, but that doesn't mean that I won't care about you… as long as you're here, I will do everything I can to make sure you stay the perfect little ice-cream girl you always were"

Her expression shifted slightly and she bowed her head again, new tears coming to her eyes at his words, only causing him to step forward and lift up her chin so that her eyes were looking into his, wiping the tears from her face with his thumb.

"Please don't cry…" he said softly, Neo sniffling slightly as she reluctantly nodded, Demon offering a small smile at her response, all before grabbing her hand and leading her off towards his destination. Neo didn't exactly look where she was going considering her mind was going into overdrive as she could only stare at the fact that he was holding her hand, while he kept his composure and led her at a light pace towards a restaurant that he had intended to eat at for dinner.

He walked in and was greeted by a waiter, explained what he wanted, and was led to a table for two in one of the back corners of the restaurant, being left with menu's and two glasses of wine for the two of them. Neo couldn't take in everything at once and looked around in awe at the fancy restaurant, wondering both why she was being taken here in the first place and why it was so expensive. She broke out of her stupor and looked down at her menu, seeing Demon doing the same, until her eyes settled on a dish she liked, her hands going to his scroll to ask if she could have it, his own hand being placed on the device to stop her before she could.

"You don't need to ask for my permission for anything, you are your own free person, I'm just here to pay"

She smiled weakly at the response and fought down the urge to display her true emotions again as she went back to looking, waiting for the waiter to come back and pointed out what she wanted to order. A minute later and they were once again left alone to wait for their meal. As she waited, she looked everywhere around the room, still insisting on avoiding eye contact with Demon for some reason, although that was once again broken when he addressed her.

"Neo… there are some things I need to tell you…"

She cocked her head to the side and gestured for him to continue, the girl seeing that a few conflicting emotions were crossing his features only she couldn't tell much from just his eyes, but it gave her a general idea, and she wasn't sure what to think of it just yet.

"First of all, I have to ask, where do you think I come from?"

Neo wasn't exactly sure where he was going with this, but she reached forward and took his scroll to type her response.

 _'_ _Your Beacon Student file said you were born in a village outside of Vale that was destroyed… but judging by the fact that you're a Branwen then I assume that isn't true?'_

For some reason, Demon only laughed at her response, the sound stopping after a few seconds as he recollected himself.

"I doubt after this you'll think of me in the same way, but first I need to tell you where I come from… where I REALLY come from…"


	20. Sorry but no chapter

**Tempest: oooookkkk... So does this password work? YES! FINALLY! Well hello gracious fans of the story! This is your *cough cough* favourite character Tempest! Although unfortunately for those who are waiting for a chapter, there is a reason I'm here instead of that idiot known as the Author... for one, he's too much of a proud and dumbass so he won't tell you this himself but his laptop that he used to write the story is currently out of action, which severely reduces that dumbasses time to write and do actual work... And as you could guess, he still has finished the [CENSORED] chapter yet so I've had to hack into that idiots IPad and navigate past all his GODDAMNED NEO PICS to finally get here and at least give an update on how the next chapter is going...**

 **So... As the little shit themselves is lying asleep over the keyboard next to me, it isn't much trouble to see that the next chapter's about 3/4 ths done and... OH goddamn it's another one of his freaking info dump chapters! ... Wait, nevermind, there's at least a bit of action... But that's already too much info foryou guys...**

 **Well, it looks like my time is short thanks to the fact that the idiots probably going to go play Overwatch or use his 'SPECIAL' Neo pics to pass the time until he can work on it again... But yeah, is is mainly just to say that it's going to be a while before he next chapter's up, so unfortunately as I've been doing for the last few weeks, just wait it out for some more time until Author Overlord decides to update...**

 **Author: TEMPEST! WHAT THE HELL!**

 **Tempest: SHIT!**

 **Author: ahhhh crap, what did that shithead fourth wall-breaking asshole do... Oh... Well, ummmm this is awkward... Well, hello fans, it's basically as he said... Although while you are here and he isn't there is another thing I'd like to ummm... Yeah, add probably wouldn't be the best terminology**

 **You see, the only thing I have to write effectively with is a shitty laggy PC that is at least five years old with an outdated Word and everything else I usually use, and due to that, I've had a few 'problems' mainly that I've had my work deleted FIVE $ $9$ &'knkjfkns TIMES over the time I've been working on it which has been EXTREMELY annoying to say the least**

 **So I ask of Ye faithful readers to hold out for a few more days so I can actually get the chapter up to standards, because I will say this once... I will NEVER release a chapter unless I'm a hundred percent sure it is up to scratch... I prefer quality over quantity, although I do make sure the chapters are at least 8000 words so it's a good chunk of reading for you...**

 **So with that, I must bid you adieu and hope I can pull something out of my ass to get this chapter together, as well as reverse anything that Tempest did...wait, where did all my Neo pics go... GODDAMN YOU TEMPEST!**


	21. Trust me, it's an actual Chapter

**Ok... now, just press save aaaannnnnddd DONE! Now, wait five seconds to see if it'll delete itself... HELL YES! VICTORY AT LAST! TIME TO UPLOAD!**

 **Tempest: Woah there, where do you think you're going! You have a chapter to work on!**

 **But... I just finished! I'm uploading it now!**

 **Tempest: Pffft, and how many times have we had this conversation before? You say 'oh, I'm done' and then it doesn't work out!**

 **BUT IT FINALLY WORKED!**

 **Tempest: Yeah right... let me see... HOLY CRAP YOU'RE RIGHT!**

 **I KNOW! IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!**

 **Tempest: Amen to that... which reminds me, weren't you going to do a special Christmas Omake chapter?**

 **You mean the one that was deleted the second I tried to upload it?**

 **Tempest: ... I'm not even surprised that's what happened... well anyway, GET UPLOADING WHILE I INFO DUMP ON THE VIEWERS!**

 **Aye Aye SIR! [Uploading intensifies]**

 **Tempest: Well, after the shitty author's even shittier computer FINALLY decided to cut him some slack and actually let him upload, we have a chapter people! After such a long wait as well, you can finally rest easy with an extra-long one for your wait as well! Unfortunately, the next one might take a while as well... but enough with the bad news, IT'S TIME TO PARTY! I have heaps of Christmas presents and the one I'm loving the most is from some anonymous guy who says that I can stay in his apartment for free! I mean, it's pretty shifty, but it seems legit enough and I've actually visited there a few times to confirm it isn't a drug den or something, and the person that greeted me was pretty nice as well, although I apparently can't meet the dude that gave me the lease... but, beggars c** **an't be choosers! And the only downside is that I have to bunk with some other person for a while, until I kick them out of course so I can bring Yang in and finally have a place to ourselves... if you know what I mean... TIME TO PACK!**

 **And... done... finally uploaded! Wait, where'd you go Tempest? Well, I'm thanking whoever got him to piss off, I'm off now to enjoy my Christmas shit! I even got some guy who gave me a lease to an apartment pretty close by so I don't have to live with my parents anymore! WHOOO!**

 **[I hope that answers your question Powerhouse616]**

 **Tempest: And remember to REVIEW PEOPLE!**

 **... Stop stealing my lines**

 **Naughtbeast**

 **Chapter 19:**

The beauty of death is something to be revelled at… that was a phrase that Phoenix Branwen had heard for most of his life, through the training for him to become Emperor, through the several years of war that he had waged against She who Corrupts, hammering its meaning in his mind with reckless resolve… yet, as he gazed out upon rank upon rank of his world's finest soldiers he saw nothing but despair against the endless tides of darkness that came to claim their very lives.

But despite their loses, despite the piles of body's that could forge an entire fortress on sheer bone alone, his soldiers were fighting as savages, giving their blood and soul with the knowledge that their fighting would not do much in the small scales of things, but together even the smallest dagger would contribute to the downfall of their oppressor. It brought a smile to his lips… the combined forces of Human and Faunus fighting united against a single foe, as it should always be… but alas, his efforts were doomed to be for naught, if the Shinigami's words rung true.

And so far, they had. He had met with the current end of his lineage, and as much as he wanted to be impressed, he knew it would go the same as always… this world was doomed to fail. The Shinigami had come to ask for his tutelage for the boy, something which he had no time, nor the patience for, not when his nation stood at the brink of extinction. They would take the war to Salem and burnt out her grasp on this world… but then again, he was never destined to succeed, as were the next thousands or so who would try. The current heir to his lineage was only one of the many who were 'fated' to defeat Salem… what a joke. The prophesy had said he was fated to defeat Her, yet he was doomed to death before he could even lay a finger on her.

Shaking his head to dispel his thoughts, he once again turned his attention to the battle at hand. If he was to make sure that the path of time was to continue straight, then he would still need to be the commander he was set to be… the spearhead of every attack, the brunt of every shield, the unmoving calm that would see Humanity's army survive to live another day.

"Emperor!" came a shout from his left, Phoenix turning to see one of his Lieutenants riding up to him on the back of an ebony horse covered in red, white and black tinted steel barding while the rider wore a light set of leather armour, a bow strung over her back, their helmet completely covering her left eye, most likely due to a battle injury.

"Lieutenant Zedong, I assume you have news?" he addressed, rearing his own mount to face hers, the massive dire hound still looming a head above the proud stallion.

"Aye my Liege, I have come to say that the long-range support you have requested has arrived" she remarked, snapping a salute that was hastily dismissed by a swat of his hand. He smiled as he narrowed his eyes to see several of his 'long-ranged' assets of his army moving up to the rear of his assembled troops, several large Ballista and Catapult emplacements with a large amount of archers to compliment them.

"Excellent, place them at the rear of General Winchester and General Arc's troops, set them up and focus fire on the Goliaths"

"Your will is mine, my Lord!" she responded, snapping a quick salute and turning her horse to ride off back to instruct her troops. Phoenix nodded and turned back to the battle, narrowing his eyes when he saw the two people he had just requested support for, both of them being on the front lines of their troops cutting down swathes of Grimm a few metres ahead of their own battle formations.

 _Damnable idiots… why do they always have to go ahead and make a competition out of this like always…_

He sighed and spurred his mount forward, towards the next order of business, a status-update with his second-in-command over the army… someone who was yet to move from the relative safety of the rear-lines and who had taken refuge next to probably the biggest target they had… which was also another focus of his next endeavour. The massive wolf he was on began tearing towards their latest target with speed that was unrivalled within the masses of anything he could field and nothing that the Grimm could spur forward could even sprint at half the pace of her walk, so it was no surprise when his mounts speed caused blurs on the edges of his vision and that they had arrived at their destination in what would have been only a minute of running and over nearly three kilometres of distance.

They skidded for a few feet as his mount struggled to bleed off their speed quickly, Phoenix thanking the fact that they had enough room as they stopped a foot or so directly in front of one of his targets of interest.

"I assumed you were organising troops now? Why are you here?" questioned the person in front of them, their voice addressing him in a lilting feminine tone that sounded confused over anything else, although it didn't at all sound like a person should… well, it wasn't exactly a person, moreso a gigantic demonic creature that was at least two metres taller than Phoenix even on the back of his mount, with several long whip-like limbs only adding to the length of the creature. The upper half of her looked normal, sporting a large set of 'assets' that would make any woman jealous, with long flowing hair that shone with an almost unnatural sheen, its length resembling a flowing river of blood with its thick crimson colour and for the fact that it was fluttering in an unseen wind even though there wasn't even a breeze to be felt.

The lower half, now that was where it got interesting. Instead of normal human legs, two L-joined feet were seen instead, covered in strange dull grey scales that covered their length, until it reached where the feet would be, a large set of talons that were hovering about half a foot off the ground, strange considering that there seemed to be nothing that held her body up. Coming from her back were two of the largest whips protruded from her back where her shoulder blades would be, the weapons being at least triple her length, with serrated cutting edges along their entire lengths, several smaller versions of the whips coming from just below the main two, only being roughly ½ the length of the largest.

A large amount of nasty looking spines covered her forearm that were bone-white, save for the tips that were a pulsating black that seemed to ooze off the sharp tips. Her face was adorned with a mask typical of a Grimm, although one could easily tell it was modelled to be decidedly more feminine than the others, with a sly smirk being seen through a crack in the mask where her mouth would be, sharp and longing eyes staring at any who were stupid enough to meet her gaze, two largish horns coming off the top of her head, hinting again to her actual heritage.

"Lust, I must speak to him now, I have yet to ask what he is doing next" Phoenix replied, looking past her and to the massive beast that stood a few metres behind, its colossal form staring out onto the massive battlefield that was before it.

"Hmmmm… he can spare a minute, but no longer, he has already riddled his mind with too much thoughts on the future and none on the present… our warriors cannot stand ground without their Alpha" she replied, more off-handidly than anything else, her gaze drifting to the sky as one of her whips cracked out within a moment, catching onto the flying shaft of a Nevermore's feather that was sailing towards Phoenix, the projectile being launched back and skewering its owner a moment after.

"Then I shall be quick…"replied Phoenix, knowing he did indeed have limited time. In but a few small hours they would be knocking on the doors of her fortress and their suffering would end for a time, that is until her power was regained according to how the future would play out. He dismounted the wolf and caressed its hide, the great beast shuddering for a moment before disappearing in red smoke, the petite form of a woman taking precedence out of the fog.

"Ahhhh, it feels good to stretch my legs!" complained said woman as she stretched out, the audible sound of muscles popping indicating the strain of her transformation. She was tiny when compared to the great beast next to her, as well as being noticeably smaller than Phoenix himself, her petite body suggesting that she was young, while any who knew her knew that she was wise beyond her years and far more mature than those at her age, despite her usual tendency to be playful and fun almost a hundred percent of the time. Her slim figure was enraptured in a beautiful livery that was coloured mainly a light red, while the rest was a stunningly shiny silver than was embellished with outrageous patterns and emblems that were too complicated to even follow with the natural eye.

A long cloak hung from around her neck, a flowing and light piece of cloth that was woven especially from the first ever Dust-threads that were made from the crystals, the article of clothing having well enough Burn Dust to light up a small town, although the woman would never use it for that as he knew, the piece of clothing was far too vital to her method of attacking. She was the master of one of the most outlandish fighting styles he had ever seen, utilising a scythe first and foremost, that was easily enough to decapitate an Ursa in one good swing, although her cloak was where she would differ from any other combatant in this world. As she was spinning gracefully during her fights, her cloak would flutter in a trail and begin to blaze as she channelled a tiny amount of Aura through it, which served to draw her opponents attention as it fluttered around her, the cloth being long enough to completely cover her body and more so that they didn't actually know the exact location where she was, only a general idea…

But then again, that was all she needed when they would end up severely lacking most of their vital organs after they were wondering how she had somehow attacked from the completely opposite angle to where they thought she was. She had mockingly called it her 'Dance of Cloaks' and it was strange how fitting it was, considering she often treated her fights like she would her formal outings, smiling through the entire fiasco and regarding each opponent during their small 'dance' so that they knew it would be their last.

The most prominent fact about her persona though was that she was the current Queen of one of the many races of Remnant, the Lycan's, a race of human-like hybrids that could shift into a great wolf, far bigger than any regular Beowulf, at the drop of a hat, a gift given to their family an eternity ago for reasons unknown.

Once she was done resettling herself after the transformation, she smirked to herself and practically jumped onto Phoenix, planting a kiss on his cheek quickly before dashing off to Lust and beginning to chat nonchalantly as if nothing had happened. Phoenix just sighed at his wife's antics, finding whatever happiness he could, before his life would end.

Shrugging away his sorrow, he walked over to the massive form of the beast before him and shouted up at it, the great beast slowly turning to face him, kneeling down just so they could actually see each other's eyes. Even while the beast was kneeled, it was at least as tall as the great fortress walls of Atlas, the beast's horns just showcasing that, each larger than the entire head of a Goliath and easily sharp enough to break down whatever pathetic barricades the Human army could field against it, although luckily for him, they didn't need to when it was fighting for them.

The beast seemed to exude an almost tangible air of death around it, Phoenix's mind drifting to liken it to that of how he would feel at a graveyard, the inexorable feeling of spectres or revenants brushing past him in the ethereal plane coming first and foremost as he felt a shudder run up his spine.

 **"** **Have you completed your task?"** it asked, the gravely and demonic voice reverberating within Phoenix's mind despite the great beast's mouth not actually moving, a side effect of the fact that it would often forget it was using telepathy instead of normal words.

"Aye, he has seen what he has to and I passed on my knowledge of his Beast soul, but I am yet to see the point of it… he was doomed to fail as have everyone else… the fight is impossible"

 **"** **Hmmmm… was it not you that just a few nights ago told me that an assault on She who Corrupts was not possible, was it not you that stated that the existence of Time Shifting was not possible? And yet, all your petty illusions of true and false have been shattered as of yet, so why can you not believe me this time I wonder?"**

"Because, you have yet to give me anything other than half-truths and riddles that can mean anything!"

 **"** **True, but that is irrelevant, the premise of our cooperation is that you were to follow me without question, which you have done, but you are not rid of your servitude yet"**

"Are you forgetting your half of the deal daemon, you promised me peace for my nations, but you have yet to deliver"

The demonic thing seemed to growl intensely at his comment but it soon faded as the things head swivelled up towards where his warriors were fighting, the six great daemons now reaching further and further away from the front-lines of Remnant's army, the beast's carving a path straight towards Her so as to push her back towards her last bastion of refuge and to cut off her command with her front-line troops, making their push towards the end a lot less numerable in terms of casualties.

 **"** **The time of the attack is now upon us, gather your Generals and push for a full-frontal assault on my signal"**

"All we've been doing for the past two days is a full-frontal assault! I don't even know if it's possible to give anything more…"

 **"** **I do not care if it should not be possible, it must be done… so get it done. I also require you to bring this to Greed, it his time to aid my efforts in the times to come, I have no need of him here now…"**

Phoenix growled but nodded in understanding, waiting as the great beast reached down with its colossal palm, the mere talons on the end of each being large enough to skewer him without much thought, a dark energy in the form of a dark purple smog coalescing in the centre of its palm until it cleared to reveal a statuette of sorts. He placed it into Phoenix's waiting hands and once again stood up to his full height, surveying the battlefield once again.

"How will I be able to reach Greed when he is assaulting Her, I doubt I will be able to make it before he is already cut off by Grimm"

 **"** **That is not Greed, that is Avarice, the one you are seeking is with your Generals, Winchester and Arc"**

"Wait… is it not true that Greed and Avarice are the same thing?"

 **"** **Yes… but I required a name for him and he reminded me of Avarice so I saw it fitting… although, enough with our squabble reach him and give him that, I have no more use of you as of yet so leave…"**

Phoenix truly didn't understand the beast's words but still understood that he would get results no matter how long it would take, as was proven by the fact that the very being in front of him was one of the legendary Grimm Alpha's, arguably the most powerful of the four that were tasked with maintaining balance within their world, although that couldn't have been farther from the truth, not after the great Cataclysm which once again split the Grimm, Faunus and Humanity into three separate races, no longer trying to work towards the combined existence that the two brothers strove to create as their last command… oh how disappointed they would be to see the world like this.

"EMPEROR!" came a shout that struck him from his thoughts, his head swivelling to see a horse and carriage blundering towards him with a strange device on the back, a large Dust crystal jiggling around in barely held together holding struts as it rattled around, the driver of said cart looking of no worry to the subject despite most likely being the one to attach the rather questionable device.

"Ahhh, just the person I was looking for!" remarked Phoenix as the cart came towards him at full tilt, the driver reaching out with an arm that the Branwen gratefully accepted, being hoisted up into the carriage as it went past, not having to slow down to collect its cargo. Phoenix smiled to himself and pointed out towards the back of the Arc Army's lines, the driver nodding as he steered the horse towards the destination.

"Ozpin, I didn't expect to see you this close to the lines!" remarked Phoenix as he took in the man next to him, his heart filling slightly with pride. The man was the greatest Magician in the entirety of the five kingdoms, being known for many feats of incredible power and being the default poster-child for Branwen's military prowess and victories… although that didn't even begin to explain how valuable he was. The man was known as a conduit, a being created for the soul purpose of being able to receive power directly from the brothers and only very recently used the majority of his great power to, from the will of the gods, granted power to four Maidens of Summer, Winter, Fall and Spring, their powers created for the soul purpose of keeping the Grimm Alpha's in check… and he was laughing right now at how right the two brothers were for creating such contingencies.

The man wore what would be described as the most humble of outfits for someone of his status, choosing to don simple tanned hide pants, a brown tan shirt with a vest made of velvet animal hide, the only sign of his high status being a rather ornate cane that sat nestled next to him on the seat of the carriage, a strange amount of what the man would call 'clockwork' inside its hilt, whatever that was. Phoenix had never bothered to question its use but it did strangely allow the main build of said object to retract inside the handle, although for what reason it was of use, he still had no clue.

"I guessed you would require some help after I saw Miss Rosenrot running off with her companion to add more notches under her belt"

"And right you are, I figured she was getting restless without some action so she went to accompany Lust to sate her urge, and I suddenly found myself lacking a mount"

"This leads to my being here… I received another premonition"

"How so? It must be important for you to come here from our artillery emplacements and risk your skin"

"I would normally reprimand you on the fact that I can handle myself… but with little time, I'll let it slip this time. I saw once again into the times to come and viewed upon your ancestor and it is as you thought, I believe he does in fact has an entity that is assisting his actions, most likely the Shinigami… as far as I could see he is as you were in your early youth, having far too much sense to put much trust in anyone other than who he has personally inspected, although that does lead me to the next plight, he is terribly unprepared. He does seem adept in combat, although he lacks in armament as nothing bar his greatest of weapons in his arsenal would hope to scratch the eldritch barriers that would no doubt have already been put in place by She who Corrupts"

"Hmmm… that is troubling, although we must push past it, I wish to warn him, do you think that it would be possible without warning the entity within him?"

"Doubtfully so, your family has been given a gift far beyond what even I can interfere with… I'm afraid the only course of action is to hope he hasn't been corrupted and still has free will"

"One can only hope… and as such, we must go, I need to meet with Arc and Winchester, I have messages for them"

"Aye, I'll have you there in a few moments…"

And with that, the old man pulled the reigns on his horses and their courses shifted towards the endless ranks of soldiers that formed the main battle group. Phoenix stood from his position and drew his odachi, letting it get set ablaze in a coating of bright orange eldritch flames that were similar to how his namesake would be seen, the soldiers seeing the flaming beacon and making a path, letting him ride all the way to the front lines without being challenged, not having to dismount until he was but a few feet from where the Grimm were fighting his soldiers.

"Ozpin, I shall see you later, and if not then I wish that you would finish what I could not…" Phoenix half-muttered, the older man nodding in affirmation as he gave a curt nod, whipping the reigns of his horse and galloping back to the back lines, leaving Phoenix to his latest order of business.

 _"_ _Now… I wonder what those idiots have gotten themselves into…"_

As if his thoughts were answered instantly, he heard the maniacally loud laughing of two very familiar faces, his feet carrying him towards their voice as he off-handily swatted away any Grimm that dared to challenge him, most of them being smart enough to ignore the practical death energy that emanated from him and go for the weaker prey, in the form of the endless ranks of soldiers behind him. He only had to walk for a few metres before he found two lonesome souls standing their ground against the literal tide of darkness, neither seeming to be bothered by the fact that there were around a thousand beowolves for each of them, with backup from literally every other kind at their backs to add to the challenge… but all that either of them did was swing their weapons in glee as they sounded off their kill-count.

"I think I'm a few ahead now Arc, you might want to step up your game if you're going to catch up!" came the raucous and loud shouting of one General Gaius Winchester, a positive mountain of a man who stood a little shy of 8 foot thanks to the copious amounts of armour he wore, his battle garb being a solid plate armour that had every inch covered in savagely barbed spikes, the entire thing being painted a silvery-grey with golden trimmings. The man's weapon of choice was an absolutely colossal double-headed war axe that was skilfully crafted so that the head looked like an bird in flight, with the wings of the artwork effortlessly transitioning into the cutting edges of the axe, the great implement easily being taller than the man himself, even when the armour was considered.

"Nice try Winchester, but you're going to have to work on your lying when we get back home, I'm still not convinced that you've even managed to kill even a single beowolf with that little compensation stick there…"

The other voice was of the secondary combatant, a light and feminine tone that sounded incredibly young, mainly accredited to the fact that the owner was a measly 19 years old, a child when compared to the massive man next to her whose age was far beyond half a century in years. Although her age and voice spoke nothing of her fierce combat prowess and quick wit, her sword skills only being able to be matched by how quickly her spoken words could slay her opponents when she chose to. Her armour was far more simple than who she fought with, being simple plate armour that was a dull silver, covered in hundreds upon hundreds of scratch marks and warped metal, her sword being just as simple, only consisting of a longsword made of simple metal, its cutting potential seemingly pathetic if it were compared to even a better forged sword, but in her hands, it was as deadly a weapon as what even the greatest of warriors would carry into battle.

"HA! This little thing ain't compensating for anything! I just needed something that would be an accurate measuring stick!" shot back the man as he sent back a smirk while decapitating several beowolves at once with a single swing of his axe, forcing the small woman to duck beneath the swing, lest she be added to the kill count, her rhythm of battle refusing to be broken as he sword disappeared into the necks of several more beowolves in the blink of an eye as they all fell to the ground.

Phoenix sighed heavily at their childish antics, but couldn't help but smirk a tiny bit at their acting up. They were two of his best Generals and if nothing else, they knew damned well how to rouse their troops to a good battle in a few short seconds, Winchester with his raucous and ravenous shouting and Joan with her encouragement and hope-inspiring words.

"Would both of you quit your incessant whining, I have orders…" Phoenix interrupted, his voice rousing them both as they broke out of their stupor and quickly addressed him, both somehow being able to pull off a bow in the middle of combat without even missing a beat as they fended off the encroaching horde.

"Emperor!" they both chimed as they bowed, neither acting as though they hadn't been heard during their little friendly banter, neither wanting to continue talking, lest they be reprimanded for such unsightly behaviour in the field of battle.

"Both of you would be far better fighting a little closer to your ranks, but other than that, I have come to inform you that we are to be making a push for Her in a few short hours, so ready your troops for a full charge" instructed Phoenix, receiving an answer of affirmative from both, their previous liveliness replaced by a hard look of determination as their new orders were processed.

"Good… now, have either of you seen one of the daemon's critters called Greed, or something of the like?"

"There was a hellish thing making its way through my Vanguard a short while ago, but that's the closest I have to a position…"remarked Winchester, his axe cleaving through the air quicker now that he was making a tiny bit more effort to impress his superior, a single swing being enough to bisect an Ursa, despite the large amount of muscle and bone that comprised its almost metre-thick hide.

"Much appreciated…"Phoenix answered, brandishing his odachi to cut a path to where he thought the beast would be, pausing to give another quick few words over his shoulder "Oh, and do remember to tell me who wins this little competition of yours, I'll see fit to reward you for your efforts"

"Will do your Highness!" remarked Arc as she smirked to her fellow General, their fighting resuming almost instantly as their banter once again escalated to try and outwit each other while once again trying to beat the other in their weapon-play. Phoenix on the other hand, cursed the fact that Greed wasn't with them, making his job a whole lot harder and pissed him off even more than being dismissed by the largest of the beasts. His mind wandered to his typical thinking and in a moment he had morphed into his avian form, his wings flapping and causing him to soar into the air and giving him a much better view of the field of battle, and a much better chance of finding his missing daemon.

It didn't take long for him to see a glimpse of a sickly green scaled tail flickering between the ranks of some of Winchester's soldiers, the humans moving aside almost off instinct as something moved between them with practiced ease. With another few short flaps of his wings, Phoenix was right above the target and was relieved to find his quarry, his body morphing back into that of a human as he dropped to the ground right in front of the beast.

He was greeted with one of the most sickening sounds he could have ever imagined, the horrible sound of the beast laughing, a reverberating gurgling that sounded more like a flesh getting ripped apart at the end of a blade than an actual sound made by a creature. The joyous sounds were emanating for a rather obvious reason, the creature was slithering through the ranks of the Winchester's men stealing their weapons with a sickening glee, a smile overcoming all other features on the thing's face, said appendage looking surprisingly human despite it being attached to something that was anything but. Whereas Lust at least had something that resembled a human figure, Greed did not even bother with the courtesy and truly looked like a sickening combination of too many species to name.

It was mainly a reptilian snake-like creature, its main body up to the head looking much like a serpent would, with some parts being covered in scales, while others were coated with a strangely flesh-like something that was glowing an almost golden-green colour. Near where the body met the head, several long appendages broke off, almost looking like tree branches breaking off, a multitude of long, sickening fingers breaking off at odd angles, each being different and with a strange hook-like talon at the end of each. Its head, as was mentioned before, looked almost human, although where its eyes would be, instead it was completely covered over in flesh and in the forehead was most prominently featured a gem, glowing the same gold-green as its flesh, two horns coming from the top of its head that curled down to keep it in place, its mouth having sickeningly gnarled and broken teeth that were easily visible thanks to the sickening wide smirk it donned.

"GREED!" roared Phoenix, half to catch the beast's attention before he was dismissed as just another soldier, and half in rage at the fact that several of his armies best warriors would find themselves without a weapon against the enemy. Said beast turned its strange head and its neck seemed to crack upside down as it flipped it upside down to inspect he who had addressed him, the beast slithering closed so that its face was a mere inch away from Phoenix's, the beast's forked tongue flickering out for half a second before it growled in what seemed to be an annoyed tone.

 **"** **I knewest he wouldest send thee… gives it to me, whats youst have been taskested with…"** it lisped out through its horribly deformed mouth, its tongue flicking spit everywhere with each syllable, Phoenix having to wipe the disgusting drool off of his mask, leaving his disgust unspoken so that their meeting would end far sooner than what he could bare.

He reached out his hand and held out the statuette, the beast in front of him recoiling slightly, licking its lips in anticipation, before flicking out one of its many arms, grasping it, and ripping it hastily from his grip, the beast snickering as a dark purple miasma surrounded him, much like what had happened to summon the statuette, engulfing the thing's figure until nothing was left, the mist dissipating almost as suddenly as it appeared. Just as Phoenix was about to leave, not at all knowing what had just happened, a whispering nagged at the back of his mind, the thing apparently speaking to him despite not being there.

 **"** **I wonderest how much funs I shall haved in the timest to come withs yer wee wittle kid that my master hast decided to shinest on"**

Phoenix could only sigh as he realised just what the beast meant… the Shinigami was sending his generals to the future to assist in their efforts, rather than waste it on an unwinnable battle here… smart, but still, he couldn't help but feel the smallest bit annoyed at being left to have to figure it out for himself, knowing that if the stupid beast had't of said anything, he truly would have been none the wiser.

Throwing aside his doubts, he looked around him, sighing to himself for the umpteenth time that day as his troops moved around him to get at the enemy, his presence barely noted above the adrenaline-fueled combat that the soldiers were so engrossed him, the Emperor not even expecting any of them to have noticed the beast's dismissal or his arrival, knowing that General Winchester's troops were trained from their first days to be the blood-thirstiest and hardiest troops within his army. Despite his… unique training methods, he couldn't deny their effectiveness… no matter if six or seven of his hopeful recruits were eaten alive by a Wyvern before they were even allowed to pick up a sword.

Testament to their hardy combat-skills, he noted how some of the Vanguard's warriors who had their weapons stolen had proceeded to take such an action in stride and began bashing the Grimm with the reinforced fronts of their shields, slamming the edges into the beast's mouths and snapping their spines with the sheer force, moving onto their next target without even bothering to acknowledge they had even finished off their victim.

He smirked slightly and lifted off into the air, transforming into his avian form in the blink of an eye, flying off to the posts of his other Generals to relay his message, once again shifting his thoughts to the war in the future and the truly disgusting odds that his successor was faced with.

"I hope that whatever you are facing right now, you'll at least have the power to finish what I have started… for the fate of the world is in your hands"

 **[Current time – The Bannered Mare Inn – Room 273 – Currently rented to one Qrow Branwen]**

A tense atmosphere filled the room, the silent notes of several trained warriors breathing being the only indication that any life was still present during such a time. Demon's brow was furrowed as he was focusing with all his might, his entire being knowing that if he made the tiniest of hesitations, the tiniest of misjudgements, then all would be lost. His hands were held with tight knuckles, sweat dripping from his brow in concentration, his eyes darting around the field of battle as his mind worked in overdrive to assess the situation to give him an assure victory, something he had assumed would come easily, but as luck would have it, he was proven wrong.

"Come on Demon! You can't lose now!" came an encouraging shout from the sidelines, his adrenaline-fueled mind only half-registering it as that of his eldest sister, other shouts being silenced as his hand was held up to stop the noise, intent on ensuring he would not be distracted.

His opponent made a move, a calm and calculated strategic attack that destroyed one of his pinnacle funnel points, several of his battle strategies crumbling with a single stroke, his eyes narrowing in hate of the one he was fighting. His hands unclasped and he slowly lifted them to begin his own plan of assault. His opponent would not fall to someone who made rash decisions in spur-of-the-moment thoughts… no, his careful planning must come into fruition for his victory to come about… one more baited line and his success was all but assured.

With a hastened movement, a simple faint to seem as though his attack was indeed made under the influence of adrenaline, rather than his usually tactful planning, he brought his troops towards the enemy, within striking range of many of his adversary's own battle lines. His opponents grin gave away their intent and he himself fought to control his own joy as they foolishly bit on the line, taking the bait and moving away from where his true strike would lie. After they moved too far away to revert what would have been a game-changing decision, he let his smugness show, a smirk overcoming him as his arm gravitated towards his next strike.

As quick as a flash, his warriors moved upon the enemy's leader and cut off all options of their escape, his destruction assured until Demon's troops orders, his victory achieved after hours of hard-fought battle.

"Checkmate" he announced smugly, his opponent's façade falling as they tried to comprehend the hard thoughts that they had lost, despite the undeniable fact that they themselves were only one move away from victory themselves.

"NO! THIS CAN'T HAVE HAPPENED!" came the anguished cry of his defeated enemy, a shrill tone produced from the vocal cords of one Weiss Schnee, their previous bravado at their aptitude ripped to shreds by their latest opponent. A cry of victory roared from those watching, several high-fiving and passing around wads of lien, mostly to Yang who was the instigator of such gambling, who herself was scowling slightly as most of the bets were in favour of Demon, so she wouldn't be getting as much as she'd liked.

"Better luck next time Snow Angel, never underestimate the King at his own game…" Demon chastised, reaching his hand across the table to congratulate a good game, Weiss begrudgedly accepting while mumbling about her own shortcomings, trying to tighten her grip into his wrist to convey her annoyance, only causing him to smirk as the late-heiress' strength wasn't really something to be marvelled at.

Weiss just growled and turned around to see the large post-match trading that was taking place, narrowing her eyes at Yang who only smirked in response while fanning herself with all the cash she'd earnt from her small betting circle. She noted that just about everyone was getting money handed to them for their winnings in Demon's victory.

"Did everyone seriously have that little faith in me!" she accused, annoyed to a new level at the fact that just about everyone had placed bets against her.

"Don't worry Weiss! I was rooting for you!" Ruby countered in her own defence, rushing to her teammates side to comfort her in her loss, Weiss narrowing her eyes before thanking her dolt of a partner under her breath, something that did not go unnoticed by Ruby herself who squealed and jumped up and down for finally not being insulted by Weiss.

"Yeah, only Rubes and Uncle Qrow decided to go with you…" Yang informed her as she was pocketing her money, the rest of the onlookers going back to their daily goings as the match had finished.

"No I didn't!" shouted said Uncle from his position laying on the couch with a bottle of alcohol in his hands as he narrowed his eyes at his niece. Yang sighed and threw him his own betting card, showing him that he did, in fact, place money on Weiss' victory. When he caught it, he narrowed his eyes to try and see through his hangover, swearing when he saw that he had bet on the wrong person.

"Goddamn it… well, there goes a well-earned pay check" he muttered, taking another swig of his drink before resting his head back on the couch and snoring not even a second later. Yang, Demon, Ruby and Weiss all laughed despite the situation and the atmosphere settled back into the normal feeling of familial gatherings, Demon sitting back in the nearby recliner as he recounted just what had led up to this.

As he began recounting the events of the night before, he cringed slightly as he remembered how his talk with Neo had gone. To say she had taken it well wasn't exactly the best way to put it, although it wasn't exactly the wrong way either. She had taken the entire thing in silence… although now that he thought about it, that wasn't much of a feat for her anyway… but, she had stayed past his explanation, passively eating the remainder of her meal before stating that she wouldn't be coming back to the hotel room with him just yet and still needed to decide what she was doing and also so she could have time to think over what she had learnt of him.

It had taken a fair amount of explaining for him to give her the whole picture, from his orphan days after his Mother's disappearances, all the way up until how he arrived in Remnant. He left nothing out so that she could gain the clearest picture as to his true nature as quickly as possible… although he might have neglected to tell her about the voice in his head and the fact that he was the Alpha of a pack of Grimm… but he guessed she'd have handled that even worse than everything else, and breaking that to her then with everything else probably wouldn't have been the best idea. After he had reluctantly let her leave (read: she teleported out of there before he could even say anything), he made his way back to his awaiting friends and immediately collapsed of exhaustion from the night. He was awoken the next day to find that Neo still hadn't returned, but a note was left to say that she would still be going with him, but as she had said earlier she needed some time.

He wasn't the least bit satisfied after what had happened the last time she was by herself in the city, but he respected her decision and so decided to kill some time until he began making his next moves in his plan against Salem. He had originally tried to find some place to train, but with no one else in the house other than Weiss and Blake, with everyone else out doing something that involved Shade Academy, which he apparently wasn't allowed to be in, he settled for something that wasn't exactly as taxing as actual combat training. He'd asked Blake for a friendly game of chess, the faunus accepting out of boredom (all her Ninja's of Love books were back in Menagerie) and so they began a friendly bout.

After several underhanded moves that were anything but friendly and proved that neither party intended to go down without a fight, and soon both were fighting like it was a true tournament, no move going unpunished by a staggering counter-attack or a massive advance with their pieces. After Demon took home the victory after being 1 piece up from Blake after whittling down their armies, Weiss had challenged him to another round; a simple asking that he knew was not to be taken lightly.

After almost thirty moves from the start, with neither shifting towards an overtly offensive or defensive stance, the battle had finally begun when the first was taken. From there on, each move had taken a significant amount of time to actually occur as neither wanted to waste a single second of what they had, thanking the fact that they had elected to not have a move-clock so that they could have the proper time to calculate strategies.

Halfway through the game, some of the others that were out in Mistral had come back including Jaune, Nora, Ren, Yang, Ruby, Tempest, Josh, Jaeger and Rosaline. Qrow and the midget kid had elected to stay out looking for something apparently, as far as Demon could tell with the half-attempt at overhearing the small talk. It didn't take long for the others to become invested in the tournament almost as much as the two participating and half as long after that for Yang to set up a betting ring.

Which led to where they were now, lounging around in the main area of their little room waiting for Qrow, the kid, Kira and Markus to return. Demon stood from his place at the table and offered a final congrats to Weiss for a good battle before heading off to the kitchen and searching through the fridge for something that he could snack on for a while, settling on sifting through Ruby's 'secret' cookie stash, appropriately labelled with the 'not cookies' label in what was obviously a cookie jar. He took out three and bit down on one, turning to close the fridge and nearly choking on it when he was startled to see Rosaline standing a mere foot away from him with her hands behind her back and a nervous expression adorning her features.

He tried to recover from the choking by coughing it up, only ending up making a weird hacking noise that made him hit his own chest a few times just to make the pieces stuck in his throat fall down the way they were meant to go eventually, his actual intentions going unnoticed by the girl in front of him as she assumed he was just startled by her presence.

"Are you okay?" she asked, hesitantly stepping forward and reaching out to see if she could help, Demon holding up a finger to motion for her to stop as he spent another few seconds to recover.

"Sorry for that…" he started, coughing once more to make sure he was done, before offering her a cookie out of respect, one that she graciously accepted, but didn't start eating immediately.

"It's alright" she said, her face suddenly blushing furiously as she bowed it down and began nervously nibbling at the top of her cookie while Demon suddenly felt very awkward just standing there doing nothing, knowing he had to do something to make it at least a little less stuffy for the two of them.

"So… is there anything you wanted to talk about" he asked, stopping his own munching so that he could devote his attention to her for the remainder of their talk. Rosaline was slightly startled at being addressed and almost choked on her own cookie for a second before recovering, not looking at him but still talking.

"Well, I was… ummm, wondering if we were still… you know… a thing?" she mumbled out, shuffling her feet nervously as she spoke, Demon's brow furrowing as she finished, trying to understand why she was suddenly like this.

"Why wouldn't we be?" he asked, still confused as to what brought about this sudden awkwardness, Demon stepping forward and grabbing her hand to show that he was still here and she didn't have to worry about what she was saying.

"It's just that… after last night, I thought you'd do the same thing as after Josh's Birthday… I'm sorry for… ummm, kissing you" she said nervously, almost as if she dreaded to hear his response, although she didn't make a move to break out of his touch as she continued to nervously nibble on her cookie. Demon nodded in understanding and smiled at her timidness, bringing her into a hug when he responded.

"You don't have to be sorry for something like that… I should be the one saying sorry for making you nervous and awkward when it comes to these things. And you don't need to worry about that ever happening again, I'm not going to leave you just because I'm too stupid or slow to comprehend what you want… I'm not exactly an expert on relationships, but from now on, I'm going to do my best" he said stalwartly, breaking out of the hug and looking into her eyes to show just how serious he was.

Rosaline smiled weakly and tried to say something only for it to be cut short when Demon placed a small kiss on her lips, her cheeks turning infinitely more red with embarrassment as she stood there in near shock.

"And if that doesn't prove it to you, then I don't know what will" he said, waiting for her to recover and sighing in relief as she smiled again in reply, placing her own kiss on his forehead before turning away quickly and almost running back to the main lounge. He smiled weakly to himself for at least being able to work up the courage to do what he had to, his thoughts being broken when Rosaline popped her head around the corner again.

"By the way, it's nice that you don't need to wear your helmet anymore…" she said shyly, darting off the second she had finished, only causing Demon to smile in content even more at the wonderful girl he had the pleasure of calling a girlfriend. As he sat in the kitchen finishing off the cookies, thinking over millions of things that were running through his brain at the moment, he was interrupted by a call from the front door, right after he heard it practically bust open.

"DEMON! GET HERE RIGHT NOW!" came the demanding and certainly very loud voice of Kira as she had no-doubt kicked down the door to get in. He sighed and quickly swallowed the last cookie, walking out to see Kira standing at the door with Markus, Qrow and the kid standing behind her, another kid standing next to her as well. He was roughly as tall as Kira, although he did look to only be 18, with a build to match that of what he'd expect from a Huntsman in training, which was only confirmed by the massive greatsword that was slung on his back. He wore a long, grey duster coat, brown leather boots and pants, a stylish set of black gauntlets with golden ornaments adorning his forearms, with a black tri-corn hat to finish off the look, a reddish-brown bandanna wrapping around the kids neck, but not disrupting his features.

"What do you need?" he asked, not being amused at being yelled at for something as trivial as this person.

"I require your assistance…" the new arrival spoke up, stepping forward and offering his hand out to Demon, the Pilot hesitantly looking at it for a few seconds before shaking it heartily, feeling a large amount of strength behind the kid's grip, no doubt honed through the use of the greatsword he had. Just as the kid was about to pull away, he leant in to Demon's ear and whispered something that instantly made the trained Pilot recoil and draw his pistol on the newcomer, centring the sights right on his forehead.

 _"_ _I need the power of the Alpha in my hunt"_ had been his words… words which both had Demon intrigued and worried as to how this kid had found out something that only Tempest and himself had known.

"Explain now or you'll lack a head in ten seconds!" Demon quickly ordered, the new arrival not at all flinching with his actions, the others gathered around being entirely confused as to what was happening.

"I'm looking for someone and you're the only person who can help me right now… although I don't have anything to offer, it is imperative that I find who I'm looking for…" he explained cryptically. Demon was entirely unsatisfied and so continued to keep the pistol trained on him, the newcomer understanding the gesture and continuing, "I can't say anything else, so if you would allow it, I'll leave now if you have no intention of offering your assistance"

"With that trickle of info and what you said, I've got more inclination to kill you right now…" replied Demon, staying his trigger finger despite being sure the ten seconds was up.

"Well then… I won't say anything to anyone else, so there's no need to waste a bullet… I'll be on my way now" he said, not giving anything else before turning swiftly and walking out the door, the kid and Qrow stepping aside to let him pass. Demon still wasn't sure what to do, so he waited for him to be gone before lowering his weapon, narrowing his eyes at the door where he last saw him, still wondering how he could have possible known one of his most kept secrets.

"I probably should have said something sooner, but there is something you should know about him Captain…" spoke up Markus, not even bothering to look up as he was engrossed in the datapad that was in his hands, the figure of what looked to be a human body being superimposed on the screen.

"And that would be?" Demon questioned, showing his annoyance that the Pilot hadn't said anything sooner.

"He's part Grimm…"

 **[During the before stated incident]**

Greed could only look on in amusement at the motley gang of 'soldiers' that were in the room in front of him. He had arrived only a short time ago, but a short time was all he needed to be bored with these people. What's more, there wasn't even any gold or valuables here to steal while he was waiting! He had sensed his Alpha on his arrival, currently embodied within the vessel of what looked to be the descendent of that messenger that his Alpha had utilised the help of.

Needless to say though, he couldn't find a suitable host himself to hide his form and he wasn't happy with staying as the tiny snake he was currently disguised as for the rest of his time here. None of them looked malleable enough. The boy in green was too… mellow and calm, the blonde one was just… well, dumb if he was being honest. The one that kept looking at his hair was WAY too much like Pride for his liking, and the one with the large looking boomsticks was just… well, he could smell a fourth-wall breaker from a mile away and he wasn't putting up with that shit anymore that he had to back with Gluttony.

The girls were out of the question as he already sensed one of those damned Seraphim with one of them, although he couldn't quite pinpoint which one without revealing it to them, which would to serious things to the shortening of his lifespan. His decisions were shortening until he finally set his sights on one that would serve his purpose. One of them did seem to have a large amount of gold ornamentation on his battle-gear and a rather expensive-looking gauntlet that he was working on.

 _"_ _Well, best of the worst they do say"_

He slithered towards his quarry and shifted into the ethereal plane, quickly beginning his soul-latch and sunk his very being into his quarry in the space of a few seconds, the familiar feeling of his non-being surrounding Greed's form as he finished the transference with his host. He smiled at himself as he looked around the confines of this mortal's mind, pulling at old and new memories to try and find what he had to work with.

 _"_ _Oh, what fun it'll be… I'm sure my Lord won't mind if I have a little fun before I make myself known"_


	22. I have some explaining to do

**Well, I don't even know where to start**

 **Tempest: How about explainin where the hell you've been for like a month! I can tell you right now that it hasn't been working on the damn story!**

 **Yeah, about that... Long story short, my mother thought it would be a brilliant idea to take our family on a little trip over to Hawaii to celebrate the end of the year, which was two weeks ago**

 **Tempest: Lucky bastard, I got stuck here having to manage your shit and had to explain to Yang as to why you have a disturbing number of Neo and Raven pictures on your phone... And that didnt go well**

 **Yeah, well Hawaii was pretty damned good, although having to spend more than a** ** _minute_** **with my Brother was a pain in the ass and I can't even begin to count the number of times I'd prefer to punch his teeth in, and with the amount of Manga and MTG cards I got in bulk over there was definitely worth it...**

 **Tempest: Oh god, more of your freaking hentai porn comicsITS MANGA, NOT A COMIC, AND HENTAI IS NOT PORN, ITS ART... I mean, they're just normal manga...**

 **Tempest: So, no Ninjas of Love then? Well, that's a shame, woulda loved to blackmail you even more, but onto other things, why the hell are you posting this shit now and not with the next chapter...**

 **Well, a number of reasons... Although is may sound unrelated, I finally realised how miserable and useless my life is right now**

 **Tempest: Well, that turned depressing in 0 seconds flat... Please do explain why it sounds like your writing this on the edge of a bridge or something**

 **If any of the readers who've watched the news in the past days are reading, they would understand why... almost five minutes before I was set to disembark from our ship back to dry land, I got a text on my phone that alerted me to the fact that there was an apparent missile threat inbound to Hawaii... Now, being the idiot that I was, I began actually thinking about what that meant... Most likely source was North Korea, which meant that it would have taken them about a few minutes for them to determine to was heading for us rather than Japan... Now, being a weapon nerd, I've done my fare share of research into ICBM's and figured that with the distance between me and Japan (only a few thousands k's from NK), I had about ten minutes to live out the rest of my life... So being the smart person I was, I went to the bar, ordered a drink, and made my way back to my cabin. I spent the next minutes of what I assumed to be the rest of my life drinking something which admittedly tasted like shit while looking at my watch to countdown the seconds until my death... it wasn't until around forty minutes after that when it was finally anounced that it was a false alarm, enough time for men a Nuke to get to me... Twice**

 **Tempest: Well, shit...**

 **And in that time, I spent most of it trying to figure out just what the hell would happen if I were to actually die... Sure, there would be like ten people who would mourn my passing, most of them being my friends and maybe a few of my classmates, but the majority of my family would undoubtably die with me if I were to go... It was... Enlightening to say the least. Me, I couldn't give a shit if I were to die right there, but it was the anticipation of death and the knowledge of how little I really meant that got to me. It was only after three days of no sleep (and I mean that in the literal sense) that I finally decided something... I would aknowledge the fact that I meant nothing to no one and would live my life as such, making sure that I could at least make an impact on ONE persons life during mine, and if I could, then I could die happily with no regrets... Which brings me to why I'm writing this... I say this with the deepest regrets but I need to take a break from writing this story for a while... In all honesty, it's hard to write about what I need to and I can't even think properly most of the time, which is why I'm giving myself some time to get my thoughts in order and make sure I can, as a great an once said, Keep Moving Forward...**

 **Tempest: Ummm, I don't even know what to say to that... Are you 100% sure I'm not gunna end up going to your funeral or some shit in the not few days because that sounds way too suicidal for my liking**

 **Eh, don't worry... As I said, I just need some time... And for those reading this, I offer my greatest thanks for ticking with me throughout thick and thin, I can say it always lifts my spirits to hear whatever you have to say about this story of mine, so again THANKS for everything...**

 **This is Naughtbeast, signing out until I can figure out what the hell to do...**


	23. The World shall be Mine

**Ok... I think I'm... done... damn that took way too long**

 **Tempest: Well maybe if you hadn't spent the last month freaking playing your Xbox and actually bothered to work on this then you'd have finished it sooner but NOOOO, apparently getting wing-checked by Nergigante was higher on your priorities list...**

 **You may be right, but I just couldn't come up with anything... this chapter was meant to be something, but I just couldn't figure out WHAT until now... which is part of the reason why it took so bloody long... and the other reason is because I've spent like thirty hours painting my Warhammer: Age of Sigmar miniatures which i am actually disturbed how quickly that seemed to go**

 **Tempest: Trust me viewers when I say he'd forget that time actually existed rather quickly when he started... and he kinda went a bit more depressed than normal after he ran out of texturing paint for his army**

 **On that topic though, I found out I hand mild PTSD, which I didn't exactly know how to handle... but after a few good nights sleep (courtesy of sleeping pills) I just re-evaluated everything I'm doing and began looking at my life in a new life. Now, I have a few extra things on my table now, I've decided that the Army's now looking like a rather attractive job right about now, but I'll hold off on that for a while, so don't worry about me stopping this or anything... my time is now mostly spent meditating through painting models and video-gaming (basically what I was doing before) but with a bit less annoyance from my family...**

 **Tempest: Oh, and you wanna know the reason behind that! TURNS OUT! SOME BASTARD IN THE COMMENT SECTION GOT US AN APARTMENT TOGETHER!... I don't want to live with this asshole!**

 **Well, too bad, you're stuck with me now until my mother will actually let me get back into the house after converting my old room to storage...**

 **Tempest: Yeah, well at least we set out some good ground rules... I'm just happy that I get some nights 'alone' with Yang, if you know what I mean**

 **Don't make it sound any better than it was you asshole, watching movies for a few hours and getting ONE kiss isn't much**

 **Tempest: You don't have to shoot me down so much... onto another topic to keep some of my dignity, it's Valentines Day, isn't it!**

 **Don't even finish that sentence... no, I don't have a girlfriend, no I do not give a crap that I don't and screw you for trying to use that to mock me**

 **Tempest: Well I, oh screw you as well, just let me have ONE freaking thing these days! I haven't even appeared to fourth-wall break in like ten chapters!**

 **I'm pretty sure it's been FAR less than that, but sure... since it's been a day of all that bullshit called 'love' then I s'pose I should give you something... you know what, fine, you can have ONE scene in this chapter where you can do anything you want**

 **Tempest: ANYTHING you say... oh, I'm going to enjoy this**

 **And I'm going to regret this, aren't I**

 **Tempest: Hell yeah you are! And I'm gunna get Yang in on this as well for the extra laughs! *runs off out the apartment door laughing ***

 **Ahhh crap... well, now that he's gone I couldn't bother to run after him for a while... I guess we should get onto the Chapter then, and as always. I'll try to get out the next chapter with a bit smaller update time than this one, but until next time! Oh, and as a side note, the OC David in this chapter belongs to Irongiant64... and I'm sure you can tell which part of this belongs to Tempest...**

 **PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW OR PM ME FOR ANYTHING!**

 **Naughtbeast**

Chapter 20:

Sienna Khan was not often one for letting failures and downright disobedience go unpunished, although the target of her latest rage-filled thoughts was a hard situation to pin… mainly because the perpetrator had already been relieved of their mortal ties to this world a rather untimely twist of fate… or more accurately, an untimely twist to his neck if the reports were anything to go off. Adam Taurus had broken the code that her entire order had sworn to uphold, that no great action would be taken against any of the four main kingdoms directly, and most importantly… that no innocents were to be slaughtered under the name of the White Fang.

He had sullied their name in his own greed, working UNDER the command of another entity other than her. The only regrets she had were that she had not had the pleasure of killing him with her own two hands. Although, there were still some minor things that were imperative she took care of, to take care of loose ends as it were. The most pressing of those matters being that SOMEONE had to receive reprimand for Adam's actions, which meant that the next in line would be his Lieutenant.

Strange though, of all the people that she thought would stand against his actions, it would be the Lieutenant she had specifically stationed under Adam to deter these kinds of things… but as she knew, people weren't always who you thought them to be.

Which led her to the current situation she was in, being escorted in a White Fang Bullhead above the busy lights of Vale as the city's nightlife was in full swing, her current path leading her towards where she was informed her faction was still operating from. Her eyes scanning the busy goings-on beneath her, scowling at the fact that a city was still so negligent even after an attack on what could basically be considered as their only proper defence against the Grimm. Then her scowl deepened as she realised just how much of a setback this would be for her organisation.

Sure, things had taken a more… violent approach, in the years since her instatement as leader of the White Fang, but she understood that this was damned well the only way humans would see the faunus as equals, through the only way they knew how to see power… through war. The humans don't measure anything through its 'feelings' or how it was 'helpful'… they only payed attention to those that could challenge their power and get them off their high and mighty thrones that let them look down on everyone else. The more the White Fang showed that faunus were just as powerful, if even more so, than the humans, the more those in power would HAVE to pay attention and let the faunus have their wishes, which had always been equality.

Sienna was under no illusions that the faunus had the upper hand in almost every aspect of genetic build, from enhanced hearing, sight, smell and several other smaller genetic traits that made them superior to humans, and she wasn't afraid to admit that in another world, perhaps it would be the faunus on top while the humans grovelled beneath them, but that was not the world she wished for… if that came to pass, then the faunus would be no better than the humans that they demonised and it would just reverse the entire worlds situation. No, she wanted humans to understand that the faunus weren't just animals, that they weren't something to be trodden on like they were less than the humans.

Her hate-filled thoughts were shifted instead again to what was below her as the Bullhead crested the treeline into the Emerald Forest, heading straight towards her White Fang's base. She took out her scroll and began connecting to the broadcast signal from the base, inputting a unique code that only herself and five others had the connection codes for, letting her ping the local of the entrance and to alert her troops to not shoot down her carrier, lest they unwittily blew her out of the air.

A small message was directed to her pilot and the craft's trajectory changed and she watched out the side of her Bullhead to see the four escort Assault Bullheads she had ordered to follow her also adjust their paths, the men in the sides of the craft shifting the large mounted mini-guns poking out the side of the main cargo bay to compensate for the turn, their usual scanning going back into place as they looked for any Grimm aiming to assault their leader.

She smirked at their attentiveness towards her safety, but she knew most of it was short-lived. Sure, there were four or five of her personal guards that she could trust with her life, but she knew that Adam's message had reached mainstream within her organisation and his radical ideas were spoken in hush tones within small groups, even her own guard not being except from the talk. She had already defamed and denounced Adam and his followers, but that still didn't stop the fact that some viewed him as a martyr to their cause.

"Lady Khan, the base is within view of Vulture Actual… proceeding to secure landing pad" came a crackling over the comms in her Bullhead, the familiar voice of her most trustworthy bodyguard, Damien Carver, spoken in his usual stoic and professional tone. Now he was truly the one person who she could trust on just about every topic. A smile played over her features as once again he proved to be the worry-wort of the group, insisting on securing a landing pad at HER OWN base, but she knew it would be just as counterproductive to argue against him.

Sienna tiled her head out the side and watched as her lead Bullhead peeled off and descended to the cleared landing pad beneath, the somehow structurally sound top of one of the buildings in the clearly destroyed Mountain Glenn. The base was located in one of the lower-tier buildings, perhaps the only standing building that could still be considered as a structure. The top level of the ten-story building was cleared for a landing pad, the lower levels being used for troop housing, several small gun emplacements barely able to be seen against the grey of the rest of the building, the ground floor by far having the largest dimensions, in terms of both height and armaments, with several larger calibre guns poking out from heavily reinforced concrete and metal barricades.

She was forcing back a scowl at the fact that the faction was now a lot less hidden now that Adam had practically plastered the White Fang over every single new station before the CCT Tower was lost, but she couldn't get too annoyed considered no one would be making any trips into Mountain Glenn anytime soon now that the Academy was gone.

The lead Bullhead touched down and four soldiers were out of the side-doors before the pilot could even begin his landing sequence, their weapons fanning across the top of the building, the ground crew going through the usual procedure and holding up their arms to show they had no armaments. Her troops were dressed in the best armour she could offer, body armour covering every square inch of their body in the same bone-white as the Grimm, with masks that were almost exact replicas of a Beowolf's, set in a permanent toothy growl with glowing red eyes to stare at their prey.

Two of the four broke off and made their way to the service elevator that was the only way to the top, their rifles training on the opening in case anything decided to surprise them… despite how much she insisted they were just being paranoid. Sure, she was heading to the branch that worked directly under Adam, but she doubted any of them would be stupid enough to attack her outright.

"Pad is clear, proceed with the landing…" crackled the voice again, her own craft rocking slightly as the engines angled to bring her down, the craft touching concrete a couple of seconds from descent, the three other Bullheads still circling overhead for protection. She waited patiently as the other two quickly popped the latch to her door and helped her out of the craft, escorting her over to one of the White Fang Captains that was waiting patiently at the side, the classic uniform of a black undershirt and pants with a white overcoat, mask being forgone by the common courtesy whenever she was present in meetings.

"Your excellency, we were not expecting you to grace us with your presence…" spoke the Captain, Sienna's hand going up to silence him without her saying a word, his head bowing to show respect, his hands nervously tying behind his back as he waited for her to give her words.

"I am here to speak to the current overseer of operations here… lead me there or I shall make sure that my men take me there instead" she threatened, one of the soldiers stepping forward and cocking the slider on his rifle to emphasise the threat, the Captain paling significantly as he stuttered, trying to say something, gesturing over to the service elevator a couple of times, more than enough for her to take the hint. She silenced him once again and strode over to the elevator, standing in the centre while her lead guard stood beside her, the other three staying on the top level as the other Bullheads began landing.

She waved them a short goodbye and the lift descended with a small metallic clunking, the platform beginning to fall into the bowels of their HQ. With a heavy sigh, Sienna slumped slightly, running a hand through her hair and fixing up one of the piercings in her ear that was annoying her.

"Lady Khan, is there something troubling you?" questioned Damien, his stoic position never faltering as his rifle was clutched in his grip with an unwarranted hard grip, the trigger being practically caressed by his pointer finger in anticipation.

"Nothing that you can fix, it's just the shitstorm that's a result of that bastard Adam, I just wonder how many gods-damned years have we been set back after this" she almost muttered, the bodyguard stepping back in slight shock at her choice of words, his demeaner finally broken by the strange actions of his protectorate.

"Ma'am…" he stuttered, his mind trying to figure out how exactly to handle what was happening when he had never seen her like this in his two years of service. Ever since his first day as her personal bodyguard, she had always been the perfect vision of what he aspired to be, calm, collected and with enough grit to get any job done if she put her mind to it, but he had not once EVER heard her sound this downtrodden.

"In the amount of time between Beacon's destruction and now, not once have I heard a single good thing to come out of this! I never intended for us to be feared by the humans! I wanted equality, and we were so close that I could taste it! Now, I don't even know where to start… gaining back what little respect we had is going to be painful to say the least and all the attack accomplished was more persecution for the Faunus!"

"Lady Khan, your efforts have not gone to waste!" Damien quickly responded, trying to sound as uplifting and positive as possible, despite understanding fully well what she was explaining and the monumental pain it must have caused her to hear of such a betrayal to the cause.

"Really? If I had truly been the leader I should have, then this insubordination wouldn't have happened…"

He paused slightly, trying to figure out what words he could say next to comfort her, but yet again his mind failed him. He was trained to be an efficient guard and fighter, which didn't exactly allow time for him to become well-versed in social etiquette.

"Don't bother responding…" she cut him off, looking up to him with an almost forlorn gaze, the ghost of a smile passing over her features as she spent a second or two straightening out her attire for the moment when the elevator would undoubtedly find its way to the ground floor. "I already know that you'll respond with some patriotic splurge or try to lift my spirits" she uttered, Damien doing nothing to confirm or deny the statement, urging her to continue "…but for once, could you give me a straight answer to this?"

"I'll do my best" he said after a few moments, knowing fully well that what he said next might decide just how long he kept his position.

"What do you think of me…" she asked, her voice sounding a strange combination of emotions, some he couldn't quite put a finger on, but with the largest perhaps being apprehension. He stood still for a few moments, choosing to not get his tongue cut off for spewing out the first few things that came to mind, but he instead bit it so that his mind was actually given time to get things in order before finally responding.

"You deserve far more than simply being seen as the head of the White Fang and I will gladly give my life to see your plans come to fruition" he spoke slowly and calmly, avoiding adding any emotion to the words, lest she think he was lying. Well, in all honestly, he wasn't exactly LYING… but he wasn't telling the truth. It was practically a well-known fact that Damien had developed a definitive crush on his employer, much to the mockery of his fellow guards, with the only person seemingly oblivious being the person of his interest. But then again, he made sure that it didn't interfere with his work and it stayed as what it was, something that would probably never come to fruition except in his wildest dreams.

"Hmmmmm…" she hummed to herself, tapping her foot on the floor a few times "and what would you say I do deserve?" she asked, a small smirk adorning her features as she tried to catch him out with a slightly sly tone. Damien, however, was well versed in his response.

"You deserve exactly what you've been working for, Faunus equality, and maybe then you can put all this behind you and start a normal life…"

"Which would entail?"

"Finding work you enjoy, settling down, maybe starting a family… In all due respect though, a bodyguard should not be taken seriously on these matters" he added, ensuring that he was staying within his rights as her bodyguard. He was paid to protect her, nothing else, and his opinion wasn't meant to matter in anything. Just point a gun at whoever would threaten her and value her life above all else, that was the job description, and he'd be damned if he failed it after two years.

"Interesting, that you'd think that that would be what I'd do…" she mused, the features behind his mask flinching for a second, but nothing else displayed his slight discomfort at her prying and tone of voice. He remained silent for a few moments and thanked his luck that the lift finally came to a stop on the lowest level, a large open warehouse of crates and storage containers with a few soldiers walking around on patrol. Although that wasn't what caused him to bring his rifle immediately into a firing stance as he came face-to-face with one of his old… 'acquaintances'. The only reason he wasn't pulling the trigger was that he knew Sienna would want to talk to him, at least to some extent… then he'd fill the traitor's head with bullets.

"Do calm down a tad Damien…" she whispered into his ear as she sauntered forward to talk to the Lieutenant, speaking only loud enough so that not even the Lieutenant could hear with enhanced Faunus hearing, "and we shall continue this talk later"

He dreaded exactly what that meant and was currently plotting assassination plans against whichever one of her guard detail let it slip that he was crushing on her, ensuring that they'd have all sorts of fun poisons in their next meal, as well as broken ligaments in most of their body parts. Back with Sienna, though, she was laughing at just how quickly she could turn one of her most grisly soldiers into a blushing mess in moments, knowing just how mean she was being when she knew just what the way he looked at her meant. But that was beside the point, now it was back down to business.

"Lieutenant…" she addressed, stepping forward and staring at him with a sort of look that practically spilled malice and ill-intent. To his credit though, the man didn't seem phased in the slightest, a very large Chainsaw weapon being slung over his back, a tool that Damien knew all too well wasn't for show in any sense of the word. He just stood there silently as he looked at her in some what he assumed to be surprise, although he couldn't exactly tell considering the mask he wore, something that was in clear breach of protocol when in the presence of the White Fang's High Leader. Now, that was an interesting case that he DID know something about.

In the past, the Lieutenant had originally been just like Adam… a loose cannon, someone who they had placed in command purely on the basis of skill, not bothering to look into the specifics. After instatement as the head of an elite anti-huntsman unit to provide support to White Fang missions that wouldn't fly under the radar so that it wasn't completely thwarted by any of the Academy's graduates. It wasn't until after he had succeeded so well in his job and was just short of murdering a Huntsman that he had to be stopped.

They had found out just why he had joined the White Fang, his parents being killed in labour camps for the Schnee Dust Company, and that had forged a hate deep inside him for anything to do with them. Now, that wasn't exactly anything bad when it came to the White Fang, heck, basically all of them had some sort of quarrel with the SDC… but the Lieutenant hadn't just left it there and extended his hate to ALL humans in general and, just like Adam, wanted the faunus to be on top of the food chain.

After the incident, he was given a choice. Either, he be dismissed by the White Fang and they leave him with nothing, or he be kept under watch by White Fang Generals, never to receive a rank higher than Lieutenant for the rest of his time in the Fang, his name and origins stripped from him forever, and it didn't really take a genius to figure out which path he chose. To give him credit, though, he did keep tabs on what the Lieutenant was doing and his general blood-lust did quieten down over the years, but he wasn't exactly going to be trusting of the man.

"Your Majesty…" replied the Lieutenant through his mask, taking a knee before her and bowing his head in respect. Sienna looked down on him in silence and huffed, urging him to speak.

"I await your law" he muttered, Damien sensing that he definitely knew what he had done and knowing Sienna, she wasn't exactly going to be light on her punishment.

"You and I both know what my orders to you were…" she spoke, letting her voice get gradually louder to draw the attention of some of the other White Fang members walking past, most being in genuine shock to see Sienna, their previous work being forgone to listen in awe of her words.

"Another slip up and I shall be discarded" recited the Lieutenant, his voice not wavering for a second as he said the words with conviction, his right arm crossing over his chest to reinforce his own words to her.

"So then, I ask you this… why did you disobey me again" Sienna growled, her eyes narrowing and Damien only barely noticing that the claws on her fingers were slowly unsheathing to their full lengths.

"I am sorry, it was a lapse in my judgement" he explained, Damien sensing that he was leaving a lot out, but could genuinely tell he wasn't lying for that fact. Sienna flinched slightly at the response and reached down to put a hand on his shoulder, practically pulling him up from his kneel so that she was looking him in the eye... as well as she could, considering the fact that he was a foot taller than her.

"Have my teachings truly gone straight in one ear and out the other? In the years of your punishment have you truly lost all respect! I ordered for you to answer why you disobeyed me!... I am waiting for a correct answer" she almost shouted, her grip on his shoulder tightening so much so that Damien could practically see that her claws were beginning to put strain on his aura. By this time there were several more onlookers that were gazing on the display, their faces showing show and slight fear as their leader was practically being interrogated by Sienna in a brutal display of power.

The Lieutenant flinched slightly and was breathing for a few seconds before he began talking again, his gaze looking everywhere but at his judge.

"I was unaware of Adam's true intentions until it was too late… he accepted the offer of those humans after our camp was demolished by them and was instructed that no communications were to be sent to you, so I couldn't send anything to you without being killed. I tried to work against him in secret, but I wasn't kept in the loop like he was. I wasn't even told that Beacon was the main goal until we were half-way there on the Bullhead transports and they had already disrupted the Vytal Festival"

"And you didn't think to TRY and stop him!" she barked.

"The recruits saw him where they should have seen you... the only people that would have followed wouldn't have been enough to do anything. The only members loyal to you in Vale are the ones here, the rest were sent on their own" he replied, gesturing slightly to the crowd that was assembled, now being a measly assemblage of around a hundred soldiers. Sienna herself looked around and shook her head in disappointment.

"So, this is what remains of the White Fang... it's disgusting" she spoke, most of the soldiers flinching slightly as a few moved of silently to keep to their work, not wanting anymore to be a part of the show.

"I'm sorry your Majesty, I cannot offer anymore of an explanation for my failures... I await your judgement" the Lieutenant muttered out, once again moving to his knees and bowing so that his forehead touched the ground, a sign of grovelling that caused Sienna to smirk rather than the expected response.

"Rise Lieutenant..." she commanded, his figure rising once again to its full height as he stood as straight as he could. In a flash of speed, Sienna swung out with her claws at their full length, five gnarled claw slashes rending through the metal on his mask and leaving five permanent scratches through its surface, not enough so that it showed the person beneath, but enough so that it had the intended purpose. As the Lieutenant stood still after the brief attack, tiny rivers of blood began to seep out of the gouges in the material, dropping to the floor in small pools of crimson.

"Thank you, your Majesty" he spoke, his voice slightly strained in holding back the pain of the slashes.

"You are lucky I have decided to be merciful today Lieutenant, or you would not be standing where you are... go clean yourself up and we can have a further discussion into the continuance of the White Fang branch in Vale"

He bowed low and turned briskly to begin walking to what Sienna assumed to be another Captain, a brief exchange taking place before the Lieutenant once again began to walk off to what a sign led her to believe is the shower complex. The Captain came up to the two of them after grabbing two very specific soldiers from their patrol, walking over and addressing them briefly.

"Your Grace, the Lieutenant welcomes you to join him in his private briefing room to discuss the matters of importance you have... these two soldiers are his most trusted and will guard you in the event that Adam still has some leeway here" he explained, showing off two soldiers who stood at attention next to him, both holding some strange model of weapon that Sienna had not seen before, her interest quelled for a moment.

"That is very thoughtful of him, although I trust my own bodyguard to keep me safe" replied Sienna, smiling warmly to the Captain in what Damien could tell was a false expression "although I ask that they do escort me there, I will not require them further"

"Of course, your Grace" the Captain said as he bowed, moving off and leaving them in the care of the two men.

"It's an honour" they both said at the same time, disturbingly in-sync for neither Damien's nor Sienna's liking. "If you would..." they trailed off, gesturing for the two of them to follow as they began moving off along the main area of the lowest floor. Sienna strolled behind them while taking small glances around as if appraising their base, doing well to hide the feelings of disdain that Damien knew she was harbouring. The previously mentioned bodyguard, though, was looking everywhere for anything out of the ordinary or anything that would, or could, harm his employer, his rifle being held with the safety off to respond at a moment's notice.

Sienna seemed to sense his unease and sent him a cursory glance back, drawing his attention for a second and smiling warmly to at least give him some relief, although he did nothing but nod respectively to her and continue his observations, slightly agitating her to some degree, but pulled her back to the thoughts of the two guards in front of her.

"What are your opinions on Adam's actions?" she asked suddenly, although neither of the troopers seemed surprised in the slightest and managed to respond in moments, the one to the right of her offering the first answer.

"He was too self-focused to lead properly, and his hate was not directed to our cause, instead to his selfish reasons... we only followed because we believed he was under your orders, but only after our attack on Beacon did we find out about his true machinations" the first responded, looking back at her while he spoke, the other grabbing onto his arm to lead him in the right direction without having to stop, with the two switching places when the other responded.

"Yes, it was truly enraging to discover we have been misled, but with our new purpose, we shall not again disgrace the name of the White Fang"

"New purpose?" she queried, her voice tinted with the slightest amount of anger at the thought of another group manipulating her organisation to their own ends.

"Do not fear your Grace, it is nothing of the sort that Adam would devise... we are training under the Lieutenant for a far more meaningful course of action, that of the extermination of Grimm"

"Why would you bother training for that, our quarrel is for Faunus rights, not with trying to get rid of the Grimm" Sienna responded, not quite seeing where this was going, her interest piqued, but her rage not quite being quelled with their words.

"We have not prepared any major offensives or anything against the Humans in light of our recent attack on Beacon and the bad publicity that it brought about, so we have focused our efforts to remove the threat of Grimm from Mountain Glenn"

"And do you know WHY the Lieutenant asked you to do this?"

"Yes... he has said that our main goal is to rebuild here and develop a new name for the White Fang so that we can rebuild our reputation" they answered, Sienna nodding slightly in affirmation and barely noticeable pleasure at the fact that they were at least not as fanatical as Adam.

"Do feel free to ask any other questions that you require" the other answered, bowing in respect as they continued walking through.

"Where are your weapons from?" cut in Damien, his tone sounding slightly angry and inquisitive at the same time, a gesture indicating to a stack of rifles sitting in a large container, a few grunts milling around it as they checked over magazines filled with Dust rounds. Damon himself had never seen any designs that were close to what they looked like, and on top of the fact it wasn't using Atlesian power cells, he crossed them out, but they were far more advanced than even the best mass-produced static-Dust weapons. He had to admire, they looked slightly less sturdy than most Dust-rifles that the White Fang could steal, but even he knew that looks could be disturbing, and so he left his analysis for when he had more information.

In response to the query, the two soldiers looked between each other and exchanged some unspoken words, before the one on the right began to speak slowly in an almost methodical manner.

"We acquired them from a donor who had access to prototype blueprints for a new static-Dust rifle that hasn't been tested yet. They gave us several models, more than enough to equip all hands in the base with one with some to spare, as well as enough Dust rounds to see them through training and into the field"

"Any reason WHY this person did this?" Damien asked, his voice questioning slightly as both Sienna and himself were having doubts as to whether this 'donor' was any better than Adam.

"Well... they said that it was a 'show of good faith' towards us and the White Fang, although that's really all we were told, they just showed up, gave us the weapons and then disappeared in the space of a day, although... they weren't exactly the most normal of people"

"How so?" Sienna queried, her interest genuinely being piqued at the news, now that she might have found someone who was ACTUALLY willing to do business with the White Fang outside of forcing them to be mercenaries for hire.

"Well, from what we could see, they looked like Huntsman, but they didn't look to be older than any of our youngest recruits, so they might've been from Beacon, but I don't think they would be considering we were behind the attack"

"So, a teenager supplied you with prototype weapons?" Sienna asked sceptically, raising an eyebrow at their explanation, only for the other soldier to shake their head.

"No, but that was who they travelled with. The man who gave us the weapons never actually showed his face, but he wore red plate armour and a Grimm mask to cover his face at all times. He never spoke to anyone other than the Lieutenant and left after everything was delivered. He reminded me of that rumour that was going around of the Bandit Huntress in red armour with the giant sword"

"Raven..." muttered Sienna, looking down and scratching her chin in thought.

"It wasn't her though, his voice was far too deep to be female. He always had this little assassin girl next to him though, the mute maniac that followed Torchwick everywhere"

"Torchwick was involved with this?" asked Damien, his prying into Vale affairs leading him to understand that the man was a wanted criminal, to say the least, who had several arrest warrants sent out by police, as well as several more underground bounties placed on his head, or more specifically, on the little girl.

"Yeah, we haven't seen him for a while though... word is, he was taken out during the attack, although we don't really know anymore"

"So, all you know is that he has Torchwick's bodyguard, looks a lot like Raven Branwen and managed to supply you with all this weaponry seemingly on a whim?" Damien pried again, sounding incredibly sceptical about the whole thing.

"Well, more or less..."

"And he hasn't asked for ANYTHING in return?" Sienna asked, not at all liking the sound of something this suspicious.

"Well, all we do know is that he wanted us to cease-fire for half a year and he'd supply us with everything"

"What do you mean, cease-fire?" Sienna asked, her tone turning more savage with each word, her anger slowly returning as she went over the incredibly suspicious and strange terms that this benefactor had committed.

"He just said that we couldn't outright attack any human settlements or law enforcements without life-threatening reasons and instead focus on removing the local Grimm population from around Vale"

Sienna, at about this time, was fuming with rage at the fact that the Lieutenant had once again taken the will of an outsider over her own and threw away everything she had worked so hard to build... now she wasn't so sure if he would be allowed to keep his life after this. She didn't have any time to ask anything else before she walked into the briefing room, the two guards saluting her and being dismissed by Damien a moment later, his attention turning to her as her eyes glowed in fury.

"I'm going to kill that man the next time I have him in my claws..." she muttered, said appendages slowly extending from their sheaths within her fingers, some still having tiny globules of blood from the altercation before, ready once again to be set into action.

Although, before either of them could continue their lines of thought, they were interrupted by a third voice that addressed the two of them from a corner of the room.

"Now, I'm afraid I cannot let you do that Madam, for it would be slightly inopportune for my master's wishes" toned out a largely accented English voice, although neither of them knowing the accent's place of origin, but they could tell where the words spoken were coming from, a slightly hidden robot that was stooped near one of the walls, Damien's rifle laser sight dot already placed in the centre of its forehead. "I'm afraid that shooting me might not produce the results you wish, as on top of the fact I can merely transfer my conscience to another body, it would provide very annoying for what I am tasked to do... I am merely here to converse and explain the woes of your current predicament"

"What the hell are you" Damien almost growled, his eyes narrowing as he noticed the almost tell-tale figure of an Atlesian Knight body being the origin of the noise.

"Now that is disgustingly rude behaviour and not at all in the correct manor when addressing a gentleman! Madam, I truly suggest finding some proper company with which to acquaint yourself with" the voice responded, sounding slightly offended due to Damien's words. Sienna could only chuckle as she realised that the robot wasn't exactly going to do anything to them considering she couldn't see any weapons on them and the machine's limbs were too small to conceal anything that would give a hard time to the two of them, as well as the fact that Damien's large calibre rifle rounds were enough to blow the things head off if anything did get risky.

"Oh really, well then I might take that into consideration" she replied, shooting a smirk to Damien who had already turned around with what she could practically see as raised eyebrows. "Although, I don't know who you are, you did say that you worked for the person who supplied us with the guns, correct?"

"Where are my manners!" he exclaimed, sounding incredibly shocked at his own actions as he stepped towards her in the Knight's frame and took a large bow before her with his right arm crossed across his chest, with his left held at the small of his back. "My name is Jeeves and I serve as the butler and bodyguard in co-ordinance with my Master's wishes. I live to serve"

"Jeeves, you say? Well, it is a pleasure to meet you Mister Jeeves, you already know my name it seems, so please do answer me this... what does your master want with us?"

"All in due time Madam, this shall be explained later, but for now, I do ask that you refrain from the murder of the Lieutenant, at least until after the meeting, then you can do as you wish"

"Meeting?"

"Yes, my Master wishes to speak with you... the meeting should begin just shy of ten minutes from now"

"What? Is he coming here!"

"Not exactly, Madam, he shall be contacting us from Shade Academy in Mistral"

"But... how? The CCT is down and Mistral's too far away for the Local Area communications" Damien intoned, the grip on his rifle loosening significantly as he changed up his view on the threat.

"What you said is true, but I cannot answer your question until my Master has made summons"

"Hmmmm... and we should trust you why?" Sienna asked, seeking to find a flaw in the robot's logic, at least to a degree, to see if they should believe his words.

"I won't say you should trust me, even I understand that what my Master says and what he does are sometimes two very different things... I just ask that you wait for everything to be explained... my Master will clear everything up in due time"

"And is there anything you can tell me about this Master of yours, a name, an age or anything like that to work off"

"Well... I can say one thing... he keeps interesting company"

 **[Room 273 – The Bannered Mare Inn – Mistral]**

"TEMPEST YOU BASTARD, GET BACK HERE!" yelled a rather familiar sounding voice belonging to one Hawk Branwen, the distorted verbal abuse coming out from behind a now familiar Grimm mask that had some rather strange additions on top of everything.

"What did I do wrong!" he shouted back, a shit-eating grin betraying the fact that he knew exactly what he did to slight the crimson armoured samurai, but was currently relying on his legs to keep him at least twelve feet away from Demon at all times... why? Well, because of the ten-foot reach of the odachi that was ready to cut his legs off in one fell swoop.

The reason behind this little tirade was rather trivial, although it had caused quite the commotion between those present in the building. Demon had been going through the preparations for the day, getting ready for the meeting he had called for all of them in the 'briefing room', which was just one of the side rooms re-vamped to have a long table and a holographic projector in the middle for his 'other guests'.

It was during the time he was fixing the transmission antenna that Tempest had come along and offered him a drink, in the form of a chocolate milkshake in a large glass. He'd of course had it quickly tested by a passing Markus to ensure it wasn't drugged or anything and found that it was, just a chocolate milkshake... unfortunately, the trouble came when he was halfway through.

An unfortunate new feature he found out about the Grimm mask that came out of nowhere had the feature of automatically summoning when it sensed he was about to be hit. Sure, it was useful when he was attacked while he was unprepared for the hit, but it wasn't exactly the greatest of uses when he had something in the way of its summon. As Tempest swung a recently acquired bat, really just being an old weapons post, the helmet began summoning into existence as black smoke shimmered into existence as it's senses were pricked by the incoming projectile, although it didn't exactly take too kindly to the glass of chocolate milk that was in the way of protecting its master and promptly forced its own ethereal being through the cups of existence and blinked into the material plane as soon as it was done moulding the dark energies into place... and slicing right through the cup of milk and causing it to practically explode in Demon's face.

Now, Tempest did have to give him credit, for he didn't even get a second to breath before both Wingman and knife were out on display and trying to tear through the space where he was moment before. Now, as he was running full pelt through the many rooms of their rented hotel space, he was finding it hard to ensure he wasn't brutally eviscerated in several gruesome fashions. What wasn't helping his case, though, was that he was still trying to figure out ways to increase the level of the pranks he was pulling... and it was then that a brilliant idea popped into his head. He ran past quickly and ducked into Yang's room, making sure to slam the door behind him, then spewed out about a hundred words a second to the blonde that was currently sitting watching a movie on her Scroll on her bed, Yang paying a surprising amount of attention when she heard exactly what he wanted.

And with a devious smile and a wink, Tempest once again slammed the door open, narrowly avoided the sword that cut almost an inch into the doorframe, then began making like a cheetah and running like hell. Demon, still fully focused on making sure Tempest was paying for his little 'prank', failed to notice Yang slip of quickly into Rosaline's room and come out a minute later with something held hidden in her hands and an even bigger grin splayed on her features than before.

The next time Demon ran through the main area she was in again, she casually held out the offending item and casually hooked it onto one of the mask's horns without him noticing, calling out to Tempest to grab his attention and beginning to laugh maniacally along with Tempest who was chuckling to himself as he narrowly avoided another odachi swing.

"WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY!" Demon roared as he kept trying to get in Tempest's way to punish him properly, but was beginning to get annoyed even further when a couple more people began laughing at his predicament.

"Why is there so much noise, I'm trying to listen to some music here!" Josh practically shouted from his room, slamming the door open to see what all the fuss was about, only to collapse into hysterical laughter like Yang and Tempest in the second that he glimpsed Demon.

"Are those..." he asked between bouts of uncontrolled laughter, only receiving a nod from Yang in response, only amplifying his raucous laughter to new levels. Kira was out next and settled for snickering silently in a corner as she observed him from a distance, not needing to ask any questions to know for certain why his situation was far more entertaining than her previous object of interest.

"HEY RUBY! COME BACK IN, DEMON WANTS TO TALK TO YOU!" Tempest shouted out as he passed the stairs down to their make-shift training area, his voice rousing an answering 'sure' from the light-hearted voice of Ruby. Moments later, Ruby, Weiss, the kid that Qrow brought along, Qrow himself, and finally Rosaline. The second that they crested the top of the stairs, Ruby, Weiss and Rosaline's faces reddened instantly as their mouths dropped open, while the little kid could only backpedal in horror. Qrow only responded in his own typical fashion, guessing by the laughter and cries of hysteria as to what was truly going on. He fixed his typical sly smirk and leant against the wall, grabbing Demon's attention as he was passing.

"Eh, I'd say congrats first, but you did wear protection, right?" he asked in a completely straight voice laced with the tiniest amount of sarcasm, the smirk he typically used only emphasising how much he wanted to be laughing his ass off right now. Demon stopped suddenly and looked at him with what he could tell was a look of 'what the actual hell' even through the mask he had on.

"You might want to look in a mirror" chuckled out Yang through her hands which were currently trying to stifle the laughter that was bellowing out from the incident. Demon narrowed his eyes and walked into the nearby bathroom, the room falling silent as they waited for his response. It was a few moments later that Demon came out holding the offending item in his clawed gauntlets, walking casually over to Rosaline and handing it into her hands, her blush deepening to unimaginable levels as she looked down and almost feinted from the embarrassment.

"I believe these are yours..." Demon muttered as he placed the thing in her palm... a pair of Rosaline's panties that Yang had liberated from the girl's closet and hung over his horns for the joke. She couldn't formulate a response and so settled for nodding slightly as she desperately tried not to pass out from the intense blush that was still deepening somehow. As he finished, Demon turned around and saw Tempest lurking off in a corner with a massive shit-eating grin that threatened to split his cheeks with how big it was.

The Pilot made to run, but miscalculated one thing that he had forgotten about up until now. In the blink of an eye, Demon was standing next to him, a faint after-image of his path being accentuated with smoke after the use of his semblance, a clawed hand already clasped firmly around the neck of the offending joker as he prepared his punishment, now escalated after the latest addition to the list.

Demon picked him up without much effort, lifting him by the neck and using his grip to begin moving Tempest across the room and down the stairs to the training area, brushing past Qrow and the kid, the former grinning like a fox after being let into the chicken's coop, the younger Branwen ignoring his uncle's antics as he made his way down the stairs. None of them dared follow, lest they face his wrath as well, having to wait for only a few moments before the action started.

They heard the obvious sounds of someone getting pummelled by concussive shotgun blasts, no one being under any illusions as to WHO was on the receiving end, while it stopped for a few moments as they heard the faint sounds of another set of ammo belts being loaded before a large clatter of rapid-fire shots punctuated the end of what seemed to be the punishment. After another few moments, they heard what most assumed to be the heavy footsteps of a Titan as mechanical whirring filled their room until that once again dissipated, and Demon came calmly walking back up the steps, Tempest now nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd the idiot go?" Qrow questioned, his grin now slightly disappearing after his lack of both alcohol and fun to spice up his day, while Demon responded with a grunt before actually beginning to use words.

"Several miles south of here in the wilderness of Mistral, courtesy of Sid's excellent throwing arm" he muttered, Qrow's grin only growing wider as he slapped him on the back heartily.

"Ha, I knew you had more than a few Branwen genes in you!" he laughed, his eyes glinting as he remembered that the bottle shops would be open now, and he could go and procure some more for his flask... after all, it was essential for his job. With Qrow's departure, the tension in the air dissipated and the others wandered off back to their daily goings-on, except for Yang who was still in the throes of trying to stop laughing, and Rosaline, who basically ran off to her room and tried not to look up at all, bumping into several corners and other people on her way, only bothering to mutter small apologies before practically slamming the door behind her.

Demon, now left alone with Yang, walked up to her and reared back his fist... before flicking her lightly on the nose.

"Ow, that hurt!" she tried to protest in mock pain, clutching her nose as if he had just sliced it off, only causing him to sigh heavily.

"Yang, could you stop making Rosaline so uncomfortable, I really don't need any more incidents happening like when Josh tried to get involved... just leave us be so we can go at our own pace" he chastised, Yang shrugging in defeat before beginning to wander off, only for Demon to grab her arm to stop her from going any further. "Wait just a moment... I need you to grab Ruby, Weiss and Blake for me, I need you guys in the briefing room as soon as you're done"

"Will do!" she said happily, running off quickly catching the others in their room, something which Demon could tell by their yells of annoyance at the blonde interrupting whatever they were doing. Demon himself walked to the bathroom first, unsummoning his mask and letting the remains of the chocolate milk and broken glass fall into the sink as he used the water to wash away the stains on his chin. With a groan, he re-summoned his mask, focusing his mind on the task until he once again felt the ethereal energies surround him and it phased into existence.

With a quick once-over to recheck his outfit to make sure nothing was tampered with, then strolled out back to the main area, stopping by a few rooms to grab Kira, opting to leave Rosaline behind purely so she wouldn't be a ball of embarrassment throughout the meeting and not take anything on board, as well as Josh to be there on behalf of the Angels.

Demon, Kira, Josh, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang were all gathered in the meeting room in a short time, all but Demon taking a seat as he stood at the head of the table, a small spherical device being propped up before him.

"What's that?" queried Ruby, poking at it with her finger until the small ball popped open, spewing out a slightly ghostly white light that bathed the room, several lights flickering over them at varying intervals as the thing beeped loudly at them every few seconds. When the light died down, Demon finally spoke up again to put team RWBY at rest, mainly because they'd never seen this before, unlike Josh and Kira who were all too familiar with what was going on.

"This, is a soft-light holographic full-circle projector, capable of connecting to any and all Militia and IMC devices to project any and all data that need be shown in a presentation... in short, it's to make my explaining easier"

"Uhhhh... what?" Yang asked, still not quite understanding, Demon not being surprised since it did take his crew a few times in the briefing room to get used to his upgraded technology, which was far more advanced than the basic models the Militia used on holo-pads for their communication.

"A demonstration would probably be a better way to explain it... and our latest guests would surely be appropriate for the cause... Sid, initiate uplink to Satellites" he toned, the familiar robotic and all-business voice of his AI Sid responding a few moments later in it's typical fashion.

"Uplink established... beginning countermeasures to re-route Atlesian comms traffic tapping... time on uplink without monitoring estimated at... twelve point zero three minutes"

"Perfect... now, where was I... Ah, yes, our latest guests! Sid, activate the holo projector"

The slight chiming sound of the projector starting up again was the only response he got and was rewarded when the small sphere began shooting out bright beams of light across the table to the far side where several seats were empty... only for them to be replaced by four glowing white figures that sat in the chairs, all but one of their expressions showing extreme shock and surprise, their heads looking around them in awe at whatever they were looking at.

The one furthest on the left, closest to Weiss, just so happened to be one that most of them recognised, being Ghira Belladonna, his normally stern expression replaced with wonderment as he stared, reaching out with his arm to see that it phased through the projected table in front of him on his end, while the other onlookers just saw his projection phase a hand through their solid table.

The next one on the chair at the head of the other end of the table was someone that only a few knew by looks alone, Sienna Khan, a person that Blake flinched at seeing, before Demon calmed her down silently as he showed she wasn't really there, pegging a spare pencil at her projection while she wasn't looking, the object phasing through her instantly.

One over to the right of her was another familiar face, although only two members of the table knew who it was instantly... Raven Branwen. Her demeanour was rather laid back, with her legs crossed casually and the Nevermore-esque Grimm mask already covering her features. Her odachi was nowhere to be seen and a cup of tea was seen on a small knee-high table in front of her as she sat cross-legged on the floor, the action making it entirely strange that her projection was hovering a foot or so off the ground to keep up with the height of their table.

And the last figure... was someone that no one bar Demon could recognise. Even through the cruddy projection, they could tell that he would be that colour normally, with bone-white skin and white hair that went to just below his shoulders, the hair almost floating as though in zero gravity, it's fairness only comparable to how spiders silk would flow in the wind. He was a boy, perhaps a bit older than Ruby inn appearance.

"Ahhh, David, it is nice of you to join us" Demon spoke, drawing the attention of everyone at the table, his voice sounding incredibly silky and flowing, resembling that of how most viewed nobles to speak, Weiss not seeming to be bothered by it, settling for eyeing him off suspiciously.

"Well, now that everyone is here, I welcome you to the first briefing of this little project of mine... here we have gathered what I believe to be key members that will hopefully be pivotal in my plans and provide me with what I need to see them through, from those that I have personally met and evaluated, to those that I had to take a more... calculated risk"

"Who the hell are you..." snarled Sienna, glaring at him angrily for not giving her any idea of what was going on and not explaining anything "... and what the hell is all this"

"For one, you may refer to me as Demon, and as you can see I am in relation to another one of the guests here, Raven Branwen, but by what though, I shall not state. Firstly, the machine that you all see in front of you is a long-range holographic projector developed by some of my friends after many years of research..."

"So, you work for Atlas, then?" Sienna asked, still not giving up on her angry glare.

"I have no relations to Atlas in any shape or form, which brings me to my next point. I am from another universe that is linked with yours, in a galaxy which is far more technologically advanced in several subject areas bar but a few, where we are waging a war that would destroy your planet in a matter of days. I arrived here purely by co-incidence and have been working towards one goal above all else... to find a way back home. Unfortunately for me, I didn't take dimensional physics as my major for my degree and so doing so requires far more resources than I thought... which leads me to my second set of directives that I believe can be accomplished by those here today"

"What, so you're an alien or something! You just drop that bombshell and then just brush it off like it's nothing... you want us to just follow you along as workers or something" Sienna asked again, still trying to find out exactly what was happening.

"True enough, but I'll explain that to you later. No, this meeting was for something else and I don't have much time to explain it in full. I have gathered all of you here because of two words... mutual benefits. Every one of you can gain from what I have to do and I can gain from your help, so it's a win-win situation. I don't expect all of you to agree, which is why I have back-up plans, but aside from that, you are all the founding members of the beginning of my plans"

"And what are you plans exactly..." the boy from before asked, crossing his arms and sounding only slightly sceptical, keeping to himself mostly until now.

"Well, I have to speak to each of you about that individually, but the end goal is quite simple actually... I'm going to restore the Fifth Kingdom..."


	24. By these scales I judge ye Guilty

**Tempest: Ok, Author-dude, you have to be straight here... this is a matter of life or death... Red Pill or Blue Pill**

 **Could you please stop annoying me, I am trying to upload this damned chapter**

 **Tempest: OOOOOHhhhh... does it have more epic cuts of me being the most badass character in the universe! It doesn't... well, that's just rude. When I'm rich, I'll buy some random bard or something to follow me around to document my fabulous tales for the universe to hear!**

 **Please tell me you don't actually think you're that good... anyway, onto other topics, have you got any letters recently that you've been hiding from me? I've tried to move out of this place for a while but I still haven't got any letters saying that my new land-lords have accepted my tenancy**

 **Tempest: I don't know what you're talking about *casually shifts aside a large trash-can of shredded paper***

 **In that case, lets get on with this shit... I've been trying my hardest to get some actual content into the chapters but I'm finding it kinda bullshit with my schedule giving me about 3 free afternoons and one free morning during the week and like zero time on the weekend, so it's decidedly crap that I can't write on this as much as I'd like**

 **Tempest: Oh please, it can't be THAT bad, my work as a Pilot was harder than this...**

 **I don't give a shit, I just finished a five thousand word report, not including the 30+ hours of non-needed work that was done to fill in time, combined with the shit I've got on in three weeks, my ass is in 5th gear for the foreseeable future**

 **Tempest: Eh, too bad... now, enough of this babbling, let's get this shit on the road before they get even more depressed than they will be with the LACK OF ME IN THE STORY and have to deal with Cpt. Exposition over here spewing a bunch of useless shit that will only become relevant in like ten chapters...**

 **Screw... you... well, with him out of this now, I'll get on with it as he said. This chapter is exposition completely, with some lore worked in there. As always, I'll ask for you to leave a Review or PM me so I can get any ideas on how to make this better for the sake of you guys, but this time I just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH and sorry for all the bullshit you have to deal with when it comes to this story, with all my life-problems and generally shitty response to those who gave me OC's and Weapon names that I still am yet to work into the story... please take consolation in the fact that they WILL be coming soon during the next Arc of the story... ignore the fact that I said that at the end of the last Arc**

 **Tempest: Jaune Arc? Aye? Nobody, jeez you guys suck... well, anyway PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW**

 **... again with stealing my lines**

 **Naughtbeast**

 **Chapter 21**

Humans... now that is a truly disgusting subject. A race of beings that were created to be 'perfect', but just ended up harbouring even more ill intent than the Grimm... a failure on behalf of my Creators. It was their way of reconciling and without experience, they only saw perfection where I saw waisted potential. They were filled with evil... and some good, I must admit that, but it was always their nature to resort to their evil in times of hardships. At their lowest point, a Human reveals their true intentions. Faunus as well, I must talk about them... while superior to Human's in psych and physique, they are kept back by the same things that keep Human's from advancing... their inner evils that dictate their lives.

They both suffer from Seven Cardinal Sins that I myself sought to show each of them. The seven great generals of my horde were all named as such because they were the epitome of the failures of mankind, their true intentions and deepest desires made material in the form of their supposed worst enemy.

Pride, the all-consuming knowledge and sense of self, so far gone that they believe themselves to be above all else, that because they were given free-will and the ability of their so-called 'choice' that by their reasoning, they must be above all else. They elevated themselves to godhood but only managed to drive themselves further from it as their so-called 'dignity' and 'rules' that gave them some sense of self-righteousness and the feeling that they were inherently good ended up drawing out the evil in those that had power, but they were blinded to only see what they wanted to... it was all a lie that they told themselves for their own benefit. They do not see that the laws they place on themselves are what gives them a sense of righteousness, their eyes turned from their true values that even I must admit hold true to even my species.

The problem with the true inheritors to my Creators is that they were always seeking more... nothing in particular, just that they felt an empty void within their beings that made them seek for something to fill it. When they saw others around them that had found their 'something' to fill that, they developed an Envy towards them that only fuelled their truly insatiable desire to fill that supposed void. A laughable act, I assure you, for it is just another flaw in their psych that cannot be altered for it will be present, in any and all forms of a Human. I have witnessed this specific sin develop into something far more than simply growing in want to attain something, but for the soul to instead grow in need to make sure that the other cannot keep what it is they covet.

And that is where the fun begins... Since the dawn of these being's creations, they have grown to hate, to become angry at any sense of injustice that they believe has been directed at them, and finally to develop a rage that defies all sense of self-reasoning to be directed at those they believe to be deserving of punishment. It is always a joy of mine to corrupt those most averted to violence and anger into feeling true rage and understanding what they truly are... slaves to themselves. And only then shall they know that Wrath is the primal state of all beings in this world dictated by power. The primal need for violence, revenge and their justice will always show itself at the worst of times in these creatures lives, often to miraculous effect, but it is always what I have viewed it as since my first experience with this in its pure form... a need for conflict, a need for something that puts them over another, a need to show that THEY are more deserving of righteousness than another.

But alas, this sin is not as prominent as I would have hoped for in these peoples, which leads me to discuss the most boring of these people's sins... that of Sloth. A drive to do... absolutely nothing. They perceive their actions to be 'not needed' or that they gain indifference to their duties, either as a law-abiding person, or for being a supposed devout follower of one of their petty religions. I have watched empires rise and fall, and in my opinion, this has been the destruction of more than I am willing to admit for, as I said before, it is quite boring. A nation that does not attend to its warriors will be easily defeated when their soldiers find no drive to properly fight. The only reason I find this not appealing in the slightest is for the reason that it is the only sin that I believe requires these creations to be lacking in an aspect of their life... disgusting really.

And then there is Avarice, the second favoured of their flaws in my respect. It is the very need to have... it is not something that they will ever feel justified for it, they do it just to feel empowered by their worldly and temporary objects. They hoard the things that they believe will 'fill' them in some way, either it be with wealth, or with power, they are drawn to any and all objects that they mistakenly believe to fulfil them. It plunges them so deep into a hole of their own mind so that they can never truly be satisfied with what they already have and makes their possessions to have power unto a god in their own minds.

Gluttony is by far the one I find the most... repulsive. It likens that to Greed, bar that those under gluttony's influence see only fulfillment through the consumption to the point that they are eating for the sake of eating, rather than for any discernible purpose. I must admit, even my species falls prey to this sin and it is what gets us killed. It is only present, though, in the younger spawns as their minds have not yet grown accustomed to thinking anything really, their mere existence being reduced to hunting and killing by their own logic. As time grows, their minds evolve to understand that they have more purpose in life, which in turn reduces the hold that we Alpha's have over them, giving some resemblance to true sentience on our levels. Lest, their need for killing for the sake of killing often culls most of our spawns before they can understand that their existence means more. The mortals, though, they are affected differently... those that fall under the sin of Gluttony often live only to consume, gaining pleasure from the mere act of denying others and supplying themselves. Perhaps the reason why I find this the most repulsive is because our species falls pretty to this the most... it is truly saddening.

And finally, Lust, the most useless and perhaps tolerable in my experience. The humans that fall prey to this, begin to fill their lives with meaningless and intense longing for something. It twists their own thoughts into perverse amalgamations of what they are truly yearning for and drives them into committing previously unthinkable acts, now labelled as normal by their own warped mind. Most prominent of all is the twisting of their need for the expansion of their species, a disgusting act that my creators called 'reproducing' that involves a completely unnecessary process that is meant to be seen as 'pleasurable' so as to encourage their expansion... completely unnecessary in my opinion... spawning pools are far more effective. I was introduced to these supposed 'pleasures of flesh' by my General who insisted I should 'loosen up a bit' from my duties... I still don't get the point.

And yet, through the thousands of years of my existence, Humans and Faunus alike blind themselves to their own failings so as to see themselves in a light which shone on them in perfection and not in the dirge of faeces that is should be. Our species were created for one purpose, the destruction of life, but even as time went on, those like me questioned what we were doing... was there any real end to our destruction, or would this go on forever? It was only after the first Humans and Faunus were born unto our world that I began to see our existence as having a purpose... until we were declared to no longer have one. Our lives weren't meaningful anymore as our creators declared our destructive nature as 'un-needed' in this new society.

Our new lives could be explained in a few short words... we were lost. With no purpose to our existence anymore, we collapsed into anarchy in a few short years so that we were no longer a united race, divided by the lack of purpose and the sheer inability to find solace in small pleasures such as building a nation or creating a 'family' with others... no, we were created for one purpose and when everything dulled down, we reverted to our true nature.

It was only after the original spawn, my siblings and I, took hold of the reigns and bringing these stray souls back into line so that we could discern a new purpose. Once all was organised into some semblance of rank and order, it once again divulged into nothingness as my siblings argued over what would be the true purpose of our species now. I stayed out of the useless bickering to begin training my own horde into the ways that I saw as our proper calling.

What many of this plane didn't realise was that theirs was not the only one created by the two brothers. The only plane to mirrors theirs, though was one which consisted only of Humans... funny, though, how the gods thought that they were the pinnacle of their own creation... and yet they turned out worse than my own species.

Although, a fact known only to those few confided in by the gods, there exists other dimensions on the same plane as our, inaccessible to those without the proper instructions. Being a confidant of the younger of the two brothers, he gave me powers over the flow between planes and over many years I have gained extensive knowledge of all that resides within them. First is that of the world which is reigned by my one of my closest friends... long story short was that we had a lot more in common than with our own siblings. Her domain is that of what is commonly referred to by the mortals as 'Hell' or 'The Underworld'... an insult really to her efforts. I myself prefer to call it the domain of justice. The mortals that have strayed too far from the path of their intended creation are given time there to atone for their sins in... 'different' ways, before being sent to live out the rest of their lives in the 'higher' domain.

Her power resides in nine separate incarnations of her will, commonly called the Nine Pits of Hell, but in all honesty, it is run the same as either of the mortal planes. It is not free of problems, no, that would be impossible. Merely, her iron rule is so unchallenged by any residing on that plane that no subordinate of hers would ever deviate from her rules. All those who serve under her do so by choice and can leave at any point they choose... but they stay under her rule for the power she brings. Her troops are all given demonic powers with which to do her bidding and they carry out her law with extreme prejudice to any and all that oppose her.

This sort of servitude isn't exactly what most would see as having a purpose in life, but her law says otherwise. Those that swear fealty to her act as a standing army of sorts, one that has jurisdiction over any plane to emplace martial law to solve disputes. Their forces are... brutal to say the least, but their stature betrays their adept at the mental arts. They are masters of the discernment of emotions of mortals, almost being able to analyse their entire psyche with but a look, something that I must admire, especially when they often use this to bend them to their will and break them before their killing blow falls.

The other 'upper' domain, however, prides itself on their mercy and compassion for the masses. This domain is presided over by my friend's sister... and as one can assume, I am not exactly welcomed on the plane considering my previous 'misdeeds' as she calls it, although we do make sure to keep in contact with each other, to cure the boredom of immortal life more than anything. But enough of that. This domain is where all souls end up after their mortal constraints are broken so that they may live for eternity in a sort of after-life that holds their souls in place.

This is often mistaken and called 'heaven' by some, a false realisation I assure you, as it is not simply a place where all is right, and everything goes to plan. Just as it is with the dimensions that hold both Earth and Remnant, it has both the good and the bad, and it would be far from the truth to say it is free of problems.

It is merely a holding pen of sorts for the souls that do not yet know purpose. In most sense it is a place for perfection, with those that are deserving of it being allowed access without passing trial through Hell. It is filled with those damned Seraphim and their pacifistic ways. They're always too happy, as though putting on a smile will fix all their problems... oh, and don't even get me started on the fact that EVERY SINGLE SURFACE there is covered in gold and precious metals! Not literally though, or else I'd fear for Avarice's safety in that case... even my generals can survive a finite amount of divine sticks stabbing at them.

Back onto the topic of the upper plane, those that wish to can have their souls re-instated as a mortal again with the connections of their soul severed so that they do not remember anything of what has passed before. Or, they can consign themselves to one of the two ethereal planes as a denizen to eke out the rest of their life in service of their residing lords.

The ruler of this upper realm goes by many names, but only those within her circle of friends know her true name... one which I happened to come across purely by co-incidence and annoys her to no bounds when I remind her of it. Her name is known as Uriel and she stands as the sovereign ruler in steed of the elder of the two brothers as they rest. And, as I had said before, she does not take kindly to me, especially after finding out that I have

The younger of the two sisters that I have mentioned resides over the nine rings and was not gifted a name until I myself gave one to her on the first day of her position... Azrael. I was surprised when she took this in steed and graciously began ordering all her subordinates to call her as such. As the mortals would perhaps call it, it was a heart-warming experience... not that I require such a bodily organ to facilitate my existence, nor can I actually experience the useless feeling known has heat outside of a mortal host.

I am sure you are growing bored of my exposition, but it is quite necessary, I assure you, for this next exchange will not make much sense... but enough of this, no, now is when I must break the confines of reality and do as that infernal mortal known as Tempest does best. The rest of this 'chapter' will be done as such in a way that it explains what is to come... unfortunately though, the next chapter after this will contain very little Tempest... wait, those weren't meant to be my lines... no matter, I shall end up now so that you loyal viewers can continue on and learn more about the lore that the overlord of this universe has crafted.

 **HA!... you hear that! He called me overlord!**

 **Tempest: It doesn't count if you made him say it, you idiot!**

 **Kalazar: I assure you it wasn't meant to be flattering, I was merely pointing out that you held dominion over us rather than any other being**

 **... must you both ruin my fun?**

 **Both: Yes...**

 **Demi-Plane of Acheron – Demi-Plane of Conflict and War** – **3rd age of Retribution**

The demi-plane known as Acheron was often a place of travel for those likened to the 'darkness' of the universe. A place of endless war, of bloody conflict that can never and will never cease. It was truly a place to strive and gain power for those that wished it. Although, overlooking the great battlefields that were strewn over the multitude of branching locals that connected to the main field of battle in this land, great armies waging war against each other with no discernible purpose. A proving ground for the great and a resting place for the weak.

But above all this conflict, a lone figure stood on the peak of the nearest mountain, watching with a solemn eye on the conflict that waged beneath him. His figure was that of a great demon, hulking muscles almost bursting from the confines of the almost night black skin that covered the majority of its body. L jointed legs held his hulking mass from falling with three-pronged claws, two massive arms keeping the centre of mass to keep him upright, every inch of its being honed to kill, maim and destroy with far more efficiency than any natural creature should have, its colossal size only hinting more to its nature. A great tail that could be likened to that of a serpent, the tail covered in spines, flanked by two large axe-like spines that practically cut the air around it as it swung back and forth.

Hard and heavy breaths broke the almost perfect silence that was present upon this peak, the great sounds of battle below being lost to the cold mountain air and scattered throughout the vast valleys that made up the plane, a dark miasma of energy spilling from the sides of his mouth and nose as he breathed, the gaseous substance being blown away in the wind each time it spewed forth.

His eyes gazed below at a monumental war that waged beneath, the armies of divine armies of Uriel and the demonic soldiers of Azrael both clashed in a vast display of military prowess, the golden and shining armour of the upper plane contrasted by the endless red and black tide of demons that opposed them, neither side gaining advantage over another as endless pile of bodies grew on the fore-front where the two armies clashed.

As they continued to gore each other apart endlessly beneath, two figures landed gracefully upon the peak next to the lone beast, their figures appearing human at first, until they were inspected more closely.

The first was the epitome of perfection in every sense of the word. Perfectly kept silver hair flowed down her body, a beautiful tiara crowning her head with an inlayed set of jewels that sparkled a bright blue and gold. The hair flowed all the way down to her waist over a masterwork of crafted armour that shone with a golden sheen unmarred by everything around it as it seemed to reflect every single ray of light it could to an almost blinding level. Sleek body-fitting shin-guards and knee plates covered her legs, leaving an interlocking pattern of almost scale-like mail to flow down to the middle of her thighs in a sort of skirt-like manner, done so by her own wishes so as not for the normal plate-mail thigh-covers to interrupt her fighting methods.

Her arms were covered by large bracers, her left arm sporting a buckler shield fastened to the gauntlet, the right arm carrying a pole-arm headed with an axe that was shaped to the recognisable figure of angelic wings. A sword was belted to her hip, the scabbard betraying its size as but a humble short-sword, but even the smallest of divine forged weapons could rend flesh from bone. Upon her back were two large pure-white feathered wings that glowed purely from an unseen source, the tips reaching from a foot or two above the figures head while the ends flowed down to drape slightly on the rocky ground. The figure's face was one of pure majesty, her eyes sparkling with what could only be called hope and salvation, while her perfectly shaped features glowed a radiant sheen that reflected her divine nature.

The second figure wore a lot less... armoured, to say the least. Her hair, unlike the other, was an unkept mess of tangled blood red locks that cascaded down her back over her pale skin that was far from the normal devilish palate of a dark red. Her eyes blazed with an unseen fire that was reflected in shining ruby eyes, enhanced only by the presence of a cliché devilish smirk that was present even as she tipped her head to her sister. Her upper half was garbed in dark black armour plating that covered her chest, a set of linked plates and tattered cloth flowing down to the middle of her thighs, leaving the rest of her arms and legs bare, excluding a series of strange tattoos and markings that glowed an almost ghostly, ethereal purple against her haughty complexion.

Gripped with a casual and almost non-needed gait, she held a surprisingly large battle-axe in her right hand, the weapon looking far too large and heavy for any normal beings use in a fight, although no one would question her prowess with the weapon considering the idle twirls that she indulged in while standing, the massive head of the weapon carving great gouts in the solid stone while she used but her fingers to spin it around, producing seemingly no sound.

Two great bat-like wings protruded from her back, an array of claws and spikes dotting the almost velvety texture of the appendages along the bone-shafts that allowed her to use them. Her devilish figure was heightened by the prehensile tail that jutted out from between slots in her armour, its end tipped with a dangerous-looking barb that dripped with a strange black liquid, a general idea of what it could perhaps be given by the fact that as it was pooling on the ground below her, the rocks seemed to hiss and bubble at the contact.

The three of them stood for some time, simply looking around at each other and taking in what was the first look they had of the others in several years, until a gravely and booming voice interrupted the silence.

 **"It is good to see you both again"** spoke the large demon that had been present before either of them, his voice sounding slightly monotonous, with only a small hint of something else there, that both of the women picked up on.

"BAKA!" they both shouted at once, readying their weapons and jumping to slice at him with a combined effort, the two cutting edges slicing through his hide and embedding themselves into the two sides of his chest, stopping after a foot or two of cutting. A true feet of strength considering not many could manage to pierce the almost metal-like skin.

The beast, in return, only offered a sigh as a response, reaching down with his two great arms and picking up both of them with little resistance, bringing them both up to eye-level with him, their normally imposing figures dwarfed in comparison to the great demon, their normal stature reaching only to the joints in his legs. The stood upon his palm as they both looked into the beast's narrowing eyes, his breath deepening as their clothes and hair swayed in the practical wind that came from his mouth as a result of the deepened breaths.

Their eyes met again and the beast looked between the two of them before bowing his head in a form of what would have looked like respect, but anyone who knew the two could be seen as a sign of repentance.

 **"I have missed the both of you..."** he muttered, the two women looking between each other before nodding and moving forward in his palm and doing the unthinkable... hugging what was quite literally a gigantic Demon. Albeit, it was hard for them to do anything more than glomp down on the top of his head, but nonetheless, the effort was not wasted on the beast.

"Put us down you idiot" mumbled the red-headed daemonette, the great beast lowing them slowly until they both touched the ground, his stature lowering as he kneeled down so that he was no longer standing at almost four times their height. Once they were both there, they mumbled a few things before the angelic of the two stepped forward to address him.

"Before we continue any further we would like to ask where you have been for all these years? You left us with little but a small message and have not tried to contact us since? Were we truly that meaningless?" she questioned, sounding hurt in all sense of the word, placing a hand over her chest as her eyes began to shine a tinge brighter from an onset of tears that were beginning to make themselves apparent.

 **"On the contrary, I did it to ensure you weren't killed... as you both know, my sister is growing stronger by the day and I could not risk either of your lives. I Couldn't drag you two into it, lest you have to break a nail having to dispose of her"**

"Awwwww... is the great and powerful Death finally turning soft? I never thought I'd see the day!" chastised the daemonette, her smirk turning even more mocking towards him as he huffed in annoyance.

 **"Azrael, need I remind you of the only one of us that sleeps with a stuffed toy?"**

"HEY! You're not allowed to bring Sir Fluffles into this!" she cried back with a pout, pulling her massive battle-axe out of the side of his rib-cage and causing a great spew of black blood to coat some of the mountainside, a slight hiss of pain emanating from his figure. He huffed in annoyance and reached down himself to pull out the angel's weapon, ripping it free and bringing a surprisingly large chunk of flesh out that was caught on the hook of the axe. He shuddered for a moment and the blood and flesh that had previously been painting the mountain began dissolving into black ash and was absorbed back into his body, the two large holes in the side of his chest healing over as black tendrils filled in the holes and healed back to normal.

 **"Hmmmm... It is quite nice to be back like this again, I would give almost anything for times to be as simple as they were a few thousand years ago when we were children"**

The angelic figure narrowed her eyes and glared at the beast with renewed vigour, putting her hands on her hips in discontent and judgement.

"Never remind a woman of her age, Death, or you might just be on the receiving end of wrath worse than even what your little general could dish out" she chastised, shaking her head in mock shame, drawing a slight reverberating laugh from the giant as he placed a hand across his chest in mock offense, not saying a word while the two sisters chuckled.

"Hey, don't be so mean sis, he's just as old as us! He should be walking around with a cane or something!" Azrael laughed, pretending to use her massive weapon as said cane to hobble around in mockery of his age, the giant demon laughing even further at this.

 **"Not that I wouldn't like for this to continue but I must move onto more pressing matters..."**

"What could be more 'pressing' than catching up with your favourite pair of sisters!" interjected Azrael, drawing it out with her usual smirk, earning a quick slap over the back of the head from the angel, said sister urging the giant demon to continue talking.

 **"I believe that the host I now occupy is the one fated to kill my sister and free the Grimm from her grasp. As you both know, that will be impossible without the backing of an army to help reclaim the land of the Fifth Kingdom"**

"And you require our aid, yes?" the angel guessed, not at all looking impressed with his words, mirroring the reaction that Azrael had as well.

 **"The nations that have now risen in place of the Fifth's rule are too concerned with their own politics to unite against a common foe, their leaders are selfish thiefs and I doubt I will be able to do it on my own... I had to use all my power and I was barely able to finish off a Great Wyvern"**

Both of the women looked between each other with expressions of worry and shock, both knowing the lengths at which his power could reach and a Great Wyvern was usually akin to crushing a Grimm Beowolf underneath his foot, but now, for him to have actual trouble fighting one was disturbing to the two god-like beings.

"How bad was it?" questioned the angel, stepping forward to show her sympathy.

 **"All of my reserves were used to actually pull apart the spells that were placed on it and even then, it was already weakened... it couldn't have been any older than two thousand years and yet by the end of the battle I was forced to break from the material plane and give control back to my host and even managed to almost get him killed in the fall after that... I have been using whatever trickle of power left that I have to shroud him from my sister's prying eyes, but there has already been two occasions where he has been under threat and I was barely able to stop Her influence from taking him over"**

The two sisters looked incredibly sympathetic but neither knew any way they could help and knew he knew that as well. The angel stepped forward and placed a hand upon his forehead, looking down

"Death, you know that we are bound by laws that stop us from interfering from either of the mortal planes, we simply cannot interfere any more than we have already! You of all people should know that"

 **"I do, but I must ask that you betray your rules to assist in this... if not, then both of your realms stand to be lost against her power. If she were to gain all eight of the Relics, then no realm will be safe from her reach"**

"Come on! We got our assess handed to us last time for the whole crusade thing that sis pulled, they have technology that we simply can't keep up with" Azrael complained, drawing the great demon's attention.

 **"Are you telling me that the great armies of the ethereal planes are cowering in fear of guns and armour? Do you not grow bored of throwing your armies against each other in 'tests' and actually bring the might of your power to bear against a true enemy!"**

Both the angel and daemonette looked away and down to their two armies skirmishing against each other on the plane below. They weren't worried with the implications of this, as each of their warriors were simply souls given material composition, so as each warrior fell, their souls would vacate the empty vessel and find its way back to its mother plane, coalescing once again into a body forged by the plane's energies until they could once again do battle. They looked between each other and seemed to exchange silent words, before the daemonette gained her classical smirk once again and turned to the demon.

"Well, I have been wanting a bit of an upgrade for my troops... that new Doom game from the human's universe was always interesting and putting giant cannons on my Demon's would be quite fun!"

"Azrael! You cannot put laser cannons on your sinful army!" the angel retorted, looking quite shocked and surprised that the daemonette went along with the plan so quickly when she was against it merely moments prior.

"Come on sis, don't you think it'd be awesome to have angels running around with giant shotguns being all like 'I forgive you, but this buckshot doesn't!'... It'd be awesome! Plus, don't you mean I 'shouldn't' rather than 'cannot'..."

"We stand as a pillar of mercy and virtue, I refuse to arm a peace-keeping force with weapons designed for death-dealing! It goes against everything we stand for!"

"Stop beings such a downer! You and I both know that your army, you included, want to kick some ass in the name of justice!"

The angel by now looked down slightly and muttered something, causing Azrael to snicker and turn back to the great demon.

"We're in! And don't worry, I'm not ACTUALLY going to put lasers on my troops, that'd just be counter-intuitive... you have no idea how much property damage they cause as-is"

 **"Hmmmmm... I'm surprised that you had the intelligence to actually consider that"**

"HEY! That's mean!"

She stepped forward and booped him on the nose again, pouting as much as she could, once again causing the beast to bring forth a guttural laugh. He leaned forward and swept his tail around the two of them, sweeping them in with a brief explanation of surprise from both of them as he made a small attempt at a hug, the two of them only understanding this when they heard his heavily regulated breathing so that he wasn't burning them with the miasma that usually was present breathing from his mouth. They warmed into it and wrapped their arms around as much of his head as they could, relishing the warm feeling as they truly began re-connecting after hundreds of years apart.

 **"My time grows short here, but it was humbling to see you two again"**

"Must you leave now, there is much to discuss" the angel muttered, the three of them breaking off with his expression turning as neutral as always, a great gust of the miasma spilling forth from his mouth after holding it in for so long.

 **"That is true, but I have little energy to spare and diverting it to dimensional projection is taxing upon my already small supplies. It will be soon now that I will be sending my armies from the first fight against her, during the destruction of the Fifth Kingdom, so as soon as I can converge them upon the Vessel, then I promise to converse more in depth with you... but until then, make sure to keep up your armies skills, against my armies, they won't stand a chance without your training"**

"Your armies? Haven't you forgotten what your little noggin thought up a couple of moments ago and decided to say? Your sister's got control of the Grimm, so who the hell is it your army?"

 **"Unlike you... I have much higher goals and WHEN my sister is defeated, I shall claim what is rightfully MINE!... and there is no force in any universe that can diverge my path, and if they try, they shall see what a true Herald of the Apocalypse can do"**


	25. A Demonic Plan

**Ummmmm... well, how do I put this... I stuffed up**

 **Tempest: Stuffed up would be an understatement... try continuously failed time and time again because of your sheer idiocy and incompetence which only led you into more of a ditch than you already were in?**

 **Yeah, that works. Well, after much deliberating I had gotten a chapter up a long time ago, but the main problem I had was that I accidentally began writing it at a later point in my plot's storyline, which meant I had left out a lot of explaining on just about every subject that was in the chapter, not noticing this at all until I was just about to upload it**

 **Tempest: Because you're a dumbass**

 **Yes, yes, I admit that... well anyway, the reason I spent extra time to release this is so that I could actually get a decent enough chapter out to you guys to make it not seem tacked-on like a Call of Duty DLC while at the same time actually fleshing out some of the characters to a point where I can continue the story to the point I've written it**

 **Tempest: Well, as I keep saying, if you ACTUALLY spent time working on this then it MIGHT have been released a bit earlier**

 **Well screw you, I have a life you know! I can't be spending all my spare time on this thing, I've got shit to do!**

 **Tempest: You do realize how much of a hypocrite you're being uploading this when you're MEANT to be working right now!**

 **Shut up you... ANYWAY, without further adieu as they do say, ON WITH THE SHOW! You can still submit OC's of any kind to me in Reviews or PM's, I'm happy to accept just about anything as long as it isn't story-breaking and all the OC's previously submitted have already been accepted are ARE getting added into the story... it is just taking me a long time to get to that point**

 **Tempest: Even a long time would be an understatement! It's been like 2 months since your last chapter!**

 **Look, I've had enough of your shit after the last chapter so would you PLEASE shut up! You do not know how annoying it was to write around your stupid little tack-on**

 **Tempest: Oh come on, every good story has a little fan-service in it! I was simply appealing to the wider audiences of your readers so as to bump up the views!**

 **AARRRRGGGGG, you are so annoying... well, so I don't have to hear him yap on any longer, I'll actually do what I meant to a few lines above... ON WITH THE SHOW!**

 **Naughtbeast**

 **Chapter 22:**

The sharp grinding of metal-on-metal was the only thing that could be heard throughout the rented room of the Bannered Mare, the watchful eyes of the room's owner looking over the other's present from a vantage point on the edge of the training room, a mock fight being present in the centre of the main room.

"Keep your eyes up Kid, you aren't gunna block anything if you can see the sword!" came the gruff broken voice of Qrow Branwen as he offered his two cents to the fight going on.

"I know!" came the reply from a very out-of-breath Jaune who was currently trying to stay alive and not get skewered on the end of Myrtenaster as Weiss was practicing her fighting techniques without the assistance of Glyphs.

"Weiss, break your form for two seconds would you! You're Southpaw! That's practically a guaranteed win against anyone who fights right-handed!" came another shout from the other Branwen in the room, that of Hawk Branwen, more commonly known as Demon. His current attire being what he would consider a casual attire, which basically meant long, black cargo pants, a grey shirt and black combat boots to finish it off, with a red scarf wrapped around his neck, leaving his face finally uncovered as well, his red and silver eyes scrutinising his combatant's every move.

"GO WEISS! YOU GOT HIM!" Shouted Yang from the side, with both her and Ruby holding up the strangely appropriate 'Team RWBY' flags while shouting all of the encouragement they could, with Blake going just for the flag as she watched in silence.

"Come on Jaune! Remember your training..." spoke Ren calmly from the side, sitting in a Lotus position as he watched on, Nora practically bouncing up and down in excitement.

The point of their exercise was sort of a time-killer while Demon was apparently waiting for something and while the group as a whole was meant to be searching for Huntsman and Huntresses to aid them in finding the Spring Maiden or something. Demon had kept out of that as he was far too busy with his own agenda, but he couldn't imagine what they would need all that firepower for. The two Branwen's had taken to training the rest of the motley crew they had as they had the more experience than just about all that were present there and they knew that with the current level of training most of them had, they might stand a chance, but none of them would be able to take down any trained Huntsman or Huntresses.

"Weiss, attack from the left every time, he expends more effort to block from that side" Hawk advised, scratching his chin as he tried to analyse the fighting style that Weiss was going for. As he had expected, and was the reason behind the whole session, was because she used her Glyphs far too much during combat and relief upon the idea that they would be present, but wasn't as effective without them. This was accentuated by the idea that he already saw her spin the selection cylinder on her rapier to what was supposed to be ice dust and stabbed at her opponents shield, only to realise that it didn't freeze solid to allow her to come in for a quick finishing stab, only to have to jump back as a sword-slash threatened to end the match.

"Boy, her sword ain't meant for blocking, just keep attacking and you'll be fine" shouted on Qrow from the side-lines.

"If I keep attacking she'll just find an open..." began Jaune, faltering for a second which allowed for a brutal stab to the side while his guard was down, causing him to stumble back and for Qrow to sigh heavily.

"And make sure never to drop your guard" he added, taking another swig from his flask before rubbing his temple in annoyance. The exchange of blows continued as Weiss landed stab after stab, Jaune's reflexes being strained constantly to ensure his shield was blocking it each time, his constant defence stopping his own attacks from ever being able to penetrate her concentrated assault.

"Realised that you've backed the wrong person Uncle?" Demon stated as he continued watching, not once taking his eyes off Weiss as he analysed her attacks, before quickly tagging on a "no offense Jaune" at the end, receiving only a whimper again as the boy dodged the assaults from the Schnee.

"I ain't backing down against this little Ice Queen, she's going down... Jaune, go ahead and do what I talked about before" he said, the boy nodding with determination as he paused for a few seconds, refusing to back down as he solely defended. After a few quick stabs at the same point, he dropped his sword strangely and reached out, grabbing the hooks on the guard of Myrtenaster, pulling the weapon from her grip instantly and leaving a stunned Weiss standing there in disbelief, as was Jaune as his surprise set in for actually succeeding. Unfortunately for him, Demon was on it in an instant.

"Weiss, right pull disarm on shield and twist right arm for sword grab" Demon ordered, the Schnee snapped out of her stupor and performed said action. She reached out and practically ripped the shield away as an elbow went into Jaune's nose, causing him to stumble back, only for Weiss to step on his foot to cause him to trip, her shoulder hitting the centre of his chest to trip him to the floor. As soon as he hit, she grabbed him and turned him over onto his chest, pressing her knee into the small of his back and twisted his right arm behind his back, causing his grip to break and for Crocea Mors to rattle to the floor.

She began pulling his arm up to the top of his neck as it continued to twist at a completely unreasonable angle, the semblances of Jaune's confidence being destroyed instantly as he yelled "I YEILD!" the second he heard cracking from the joints. Weiss smirked to herself and stepped back up off him, nodding to herself as if giving herself the congratulations, while only realising a second later what she was doing. She cut her smirk and reached down to help Jaune up, offering her apologies as he groaned about the pains in his arm.

"Well, you learn something new every day... I never thought the Schnee would be able to do anything without her oversized sewing needle" Qrow conceded, walking over to Demon and shaking his hand, nobody noticing the sizable amount of Lien being folded into the palm which was casually moved into Demon's wallet as the hand-shake concluded.

"OOOOH! ME NEXT!" yelled Ruby, causing Yang to recoil slightly, the smaller girl shying away guiltily as her sister raised an eyebrow at her. Demon looked over and smiled at her, waving her over as the girl practically vibrated in excitement.

"If anyone's going to teach her how to fight, it's going to be her sister!" Yang interrupted, standing up and pushing her brother aside, earning a slight laugh as Demon happily let her take over, moving to a side table and checking on a laptop that was running there. He sat there fiddling with it for a while until Kira and walked over to begin looking at what he was doing. She watched on in silence as Demon was typing up a document that was what looked to be a large document of a large number of names in order, his mouse flicking back and forth across the documents as he clicked into them and seemed to change one or two words, changing the symbols of a few, most prominently to a black skull.

"So... what are you doing?" she asked, seeming to be annoyed as she casually looked up to watch the fight that was taking place now, Ruby trying desperately to land a hit on Yang who was side-stepping each attempt with relative ease, offering no form of attack of her own bar her annoying laughing.

"This is a document of a bunch of names that are important to what I am doing... more essentially, a smaller version of the Militia's Blacklist files"

"So, if I look in there, I'm going to find a comprehensive file on how to kill me right?"

Demon waited for a few seconds before he smiled back at her with a sly grin.

"Now why would I need that, this is a personal list... I've got everything I need up here" he replied, tapping his head and earning a kick in the shin from Kira. He waited for a few more seconds in silence, breaking it after he had finished up with everything. "So, what was the real reason you came over here?"

"No beating around the bush then... look, I just wanted to know, were the satellites the only thing you've done here or is there anything more?"

He could only sigh slightly at the question and dipped his head to look down at his own feet, stopping and contemplating how he should answer the question so that she would at least know what he was planning.

"Kira, what is the Militia policy for overcoming a superior force without prior assault?"

"Well, the first step is to establish an intelligence network to find their defence patterns or to find an inside source with which to undermine their command network. Then establish a large enough force from the inside their lines with which to run disruption or convert enough of the enemy's forces to our own cause to lessen resistance. After that we begin an assault on one random section of their controlled sectors with a stealth unit and begin taking out high-ranked officials while the enemy is distracted until we have complete control of that sector, then once resistance is crumbling we move to take the planet" Kira recited, the attack plan for their Assault Legion being all but engraved into her mind by now, the process already being second nature for a veteran such as her.

Even though she never partook in the initial 'invasion' per-se it was always fun to hear about how the spooks in charge would plan enough C4 to level an entire city block with enough precision that they could basically cause a smiley-face to appear above ground instead of simply destroying their target. Demon was nodding as each word was spoken and smirked at the end as he realised she re-stated it word-for-word on what was in the speech he gave to all new recruits on their tactics.

"Good, now, does that answer your question?"

"What do you mean? I asked... wait... you can't be serious"

Demon didn't offer anything as he brought up a picture folder on his laptop that opened to show several clippings of Newspaper headings for several globally prominent news sources. She took the device and looked at each, seeing some such as 'prominent Schnee official found dead in home' or 'Atlesian governor mysteriously steps down from position, no explanation given'.

"You've been..." she muttered to herself, flipping through each segment with wide eyes.

"I was being serious when I said I wanted to restore a Fifth Kingdom to this world. The four powers of this world are acting just as the New Earth Council was when Hammond Industries began taking control. They were too focused on political struggles until it was too late and Hammond had monopolised the entire Space-faring industry and they had lost their power to one entity. Once Hammond began twisting his control and turning his company into the IMC, they were powerless to stop his atrocities past what they were meant to. In this world, I refuse to stand by as the same thing is happening. Atlas is pushing far too forward with their Military research and that only creates more divide between the nations because even I can see their development isn't for more effective ways of taking down Grimm"

"You're kidding, right? What your talking about isn't as simple as breaking an IMC stronghold with your army! This is outright planetary domination! You don't have the resources or skills to pull this off without being dragged down with those who you want to get rid of"

"My methods are of little consequence... I'm doing everything so this planet doesn't get dragged into the shit-show that is the war in our universe! People don't need to die, and right now, this entire planet is fast-tracked into a civil war that I don't see ending with any side being victorious. The Grimm are far bigger a threat now than any other point in this planet's history and I can't sit by doing nothing"

"How could you possibly know that! I understand that you aren't exactly a noob when it comes to combat and tactics, but you can't be serious about taking control of a freaking planet!"

"Oh, so who would you prefer instead? Would you like it if the FREAKING GRIMM TOOK OVER!"

Kira took a step back at his sudden outburst, the sound of fighting stopping as the entire room dropped into silence.

"Hey, what are you two talking about?" called Josh, the Pilot walking over and pulling up short when Demon's dagger-like eyes darted to him.

"Nothing important, just a matter regarding the meeting earlier... it's nothing of your concern" he quickly snapped, turning back to Kira and muttering something under his breath as he broke off and shut the file programs on his laptop, moving to the exit of the room while everyone else still watched on.

"Hawk, why don't you relax a bit, you've been stressed for the past few days and you've barely had enough sleep" Rosaline brought up, her tone sounding more worried than anything, which was only compounded when the person he was addressing snapped around, about to say something, only to stop himself and shut his mouth immediately. He groaned and ran his hand through his hair, shutting his eyes to think for a few seconds until he admitted defeat.

"Yeah, I guess you're right... it's impossible to function without proper rest and I can't think straight with the compounded stress right now"

"See, was it that hard?" Rosaline quipped, a smile now working its way onto her face as Demon sighed again, walking to sit down, only for Yang to quickly grab him.

"Don't think you're clear just yet buddy, don't forget the best stress-reliever in the world! Fighting! Plus, I owe you an ass-kicking after you made those gauntlets of yours and I am yet to deliver, so prepare for pain!" she chastised with a noticeable red glint in her eyes.

Demon smirked finally and snapped his fingers at a nearby Spectre was watching, the robot reaching into its back-pack and taking out the armoured gauntlets that made up his normal armour, the boy catching them as they were thrown and threading them onto his arms, the metal making it up to his shoulders without the usual _Sode_ and pauldron to accompany them, a set of large straps keeping the armour on his body as they criss-crossed across his chest to secure them without movement. Once he was satisfied, he punched out his arms so _Law and Order_ both readied, the satisfying click of the weapon's rounds locking into place reverberating around the chamber.

Yang returned the gesture by readying into a boxer's stance as Ember Celica clicked into place as well, her gauntlets producing their trademark click of chambering. She flicked her hair behind her as the two of them circled slowly, eyeing each other with a critical eye.

"I should have you know, _Law and Order_ have been 'slightly' modified since you last saw them..."

"Oh really, so they aren't EXACT copies of my babies anymore?"

"Hey, that hurts! I didn't mean to copy them to the letter in the first place, I just needed another weapon!"

"Sure, sure, now... get ready"

The two were once again back into the silent staring and circled each other with almost exactly the same stance, both of them stepping creepily in exactly the same time, neither willing to make the first move. That was, until both narrowed their eyes and propelled themselves forward with a solid kick off their right leg, both going for an absolutely colossal right-hook to the opponent's face, both impacting in sync as neither were willing to block to sacrifice their attack. Booms rang out as both weapons discharged to add to the power behind the punch, the two of them flying from the impact and hitting the sides of the arena, spider-web cracks lining the walls as they hit.

The watching audience all cringed at the power behind it and the pain both of them must have felt, but alas, the two of them stepped up from the rubble with smiles on their faces. A slight dribble of blood was coming from Yang's nose while Demon's mouth had a noticeable trickle coming from the left side, neither of them looking phased by the injuries.

"I have to admit, that was a pretty good punch" Demon said, his smile widening when he re-chambered another shot from _Law and Order_.

"Yeah, well kudos to you as well, although... I didn't know I was meant to be treating this like a joke"

"What do you mean, I thought we were going all out"

"So did I, but it looks like you're just waiting for the PUNCH line!" she quipped, a long and drawn-out groan coming from the assembled crowd, bar Tempest who was the only other person who laughed aside from Demon.

"Just get on with it you two!" shouted Qrow from the side-lines, the small kid that Demon had seen with him the past few days looking on as well with wide eyes. Demon and Yang locked eyes again and began circling. During the next moments, they both went in for feints, diverting their attacks at the last second, until both of their fists collided mid-air to form a reverberating boom as their weapons discharged. Both hoped to take advantage of the momentary confusion of the other that they believed would happen, so with their other arms, they fired off a shot at each other, hitting on point and sending the two of them back into the walls again in a fiery explosion.

"Is it just me, or are they a bit too evenly matched" Weiss asked off-handidly to Ruby, but after receiving no reply she looked down to see the girl sitting there looking strangely sad.

"Ummmm... Ruby?" the late-heiress spoke softly, the younger of the two looking up with something that looked akin to depression... only to make Weiss sigh when she actually spoke.

"Weiss, who should I cheer for!" she said as though it was the hardest decision of her life.

"Urgh, you dolt! Just pick one, it can't be that hard!"

"But if I pick Hawk then Yang'll get annoyed, but if I pick Yang then Hawk might get annoyed!" she said, explaining her troubles.

"Well then just pick Yang, she's far less annoying than your brother" Weiss said instantly, although a bit too loudly if she was to think about it.

"Awwwww, was that a compliment Ice Queen!" shouted Yang from the arena, a large smirk plastered over her face instantly at the teasing opportunity, the Schnee giving her a deadpan gaze before turning back to Ruby.

"Nevermind, pick your brother over the blonde brute any day"

"Wow Weiss, I didn't know you were that kind of person, although you'll have to fight Rosaline if you REALLY want to win him over" Yang teased again, making Weiss even more pissed off than she already was, which only mean Yang had to avoid only ten icy shards sent her way before Ruby managed to calm her down.

"Hey sis, get back in the fight, would you?" Demon asked, sending a few quick jabs at Yang, all of which were deflected with Ember Celica as he didn't use the shots to enhance the punches.

"I am perfectly capable of fighting while mocking the Ice Queen thank you very much!" she quipped back, sending her own punches at Demon which was tanked head on as he used his gauntlets as shields. The two were almost evenly matched so Yang decided to mix things up and finally use the edge she had. On the next punch that was sent her way, she didn't bother to block and absorbed the blow, activating her Semblance in a blaze of fire, Demon jumping back to avoid being scorched in the momentary explosion that happened to erupt from her power being released.

She stood there mockingly as she teased him with a few mock punches followed by her posing and winking at Tempest for some reason, but that didn't mean she wasn't ready when he went on the offensive. Each punch that he sent her way was either blocked and deflected, although the strange thing was that her blocks had so much power behind them that he was actually coming off worse when she did so. He re-evaluated his approach and began to focus more on take-down moves instead, hooking his leg around the back of hers and pushing her forward to trip her to the ground.

She caught on and obliged with the fall, bracing herself enough so that when she hit, she kicked up with her legs and set him flying over her as well instead of being in the prime position for punching. He was up as quickly as she was and both went to attack, but Demon made sure to twist to the side so he wasn't hit, lest he be trampled by the pure power that was her Semblance. Given that both attacking and blocking were practically out of the option thanks to that Semblance of hers, Demon knew he had little options other than to utilize his own. With a quick jump backwards, he ejected the magazines from _Law and Order_ and slammed new one's home in under three seconds, being on the defensive again as Yang pushed so as to not give him time to think.

With new ammo, he quickly activated his own Semblance and teleported behind her, punching out with both fists and discharging shots, causing her to buckle forward from the force, the girl instantly turning around to pummel him in the side in an instant, Demon not having enough time to escape thanks to the committal to the attack and so was smashed by the force, his vision blacking out for an instant after he felt the brunt of the damage.

With another side-step he activated his semblance and jabbed at her right shoulder with two shells in quick succession so as to account for not using his other fist. She tanked the shots quite well and didn't even flinch from the impacts, although when she went around to trade blows again, he was gone in an instant, instead, two more impacts slamming into her shoulder blades from behind, a faint trail of smoke leading from where he would have been. She jumped back and fired two shots at the ground beneath her, the shots only adding to the raging fire of her semblance and looked to see Demon jumping away as well, his attack deemed not worth getting slammed by her missiles.

"Cheap hits right there, why don't you start fighting like a man!" she jeered, his smile growing wide as she spoke.

"Well, if anything goes by this fight I should be trying to fight like a woman instead!" he shot back, her smirk amplified by his comments.

"Damn right, now let's get back to finish this!" she said, her gauntlets ejecting their shells as she slammed new ammo belts home. They both began launching shot after shot from their weapons, the firey balls of energy colliding in the centre of the field between them, until ultimately the superior capacity of Ember Celica won out and Demon got hit with two shots. Yang didn't wait to give him another time of rest and rushed in, firing her gauntlets to propel her forward for a massive punch to the chest on Demon.

Once again, his vision blackened slightly, although this time he swore he could see some splotches of something within the blackness he saw, although he didn't have any time to think about it as he was trying not to get pummelled by Yang. Dodging was the only option he had, but with a larger body and bulkier weapons, he wasn't exactly doing all that well and with Yang, the glancing blows were beginning to take their toll. He activated his helmet with a thought-message and brought up the HUD instantly, seeing that his Aura wasn't handling the assault too well, although judging by how much Yang was huffing and out of breath, she wasn't handling it too well either.

He dismissed the helmet in an instant and began trying to see an opportunity of attack within her strikes, and once he spotted something it was almost too good to be true... and it was. As he went in for a strike, he paled instantly as he saw a grin come over Yang... and instantly regrated it.

The fist came from somewhere he didn't see, but by the gods he sure felt it. If he didn't have Aura his head would have probably been knocked clean off, but he didn't exactly get to feel it as he blacked out immediately on the hit, his body slumping to the floor limply in a heap.

"Wooooh, I win!" cheered Yang, her fist pumping into the air in triumph as she celebrated, only to look down at her opponent, causing her eyes to go wide. "Shit..." she swore, quickly dropping to her knees and checking his pulse, her held in breath being exhaled in relief when she still found it.

She opened his eyes to check for a concussion but recoiled again as his helmet phased into being just as she was about to check, his chest rising and falling quickly in his pseudo-slumber. The rest of the room quickly rushed over to his sleepy form to check on him, most of them being too timid to do anything.

"What'd you do Firecracker?" Qrow asked, more annoyed than serious as he had seen the fight taking place, knowing that without his Aura broken, Hawk wouldn't be seriously injured, let alone being hurt enough to warrant a trip to the hospital. By now, Yang was almost crying as she was having flashbacks to the festival, even if the 'pain' she had caused had just been Mercury faking it.

"It... I... just..." she couldn't form a serious sentence as Tempest rubbed her shoulders to console her, Yang's breaths becoming short and quick as she began to hyperventilate. Qrow came over and brushed away the Pilot, putting an hand on her shoulder while looking her dead in the eyes.

"Hey, pull it together... he ain't dead and I'm sure he'll be fine after this. Where did you hit him?" he asked in the calmest voice he could muster, ignoring the worried and wide-eyed looks of both Rosaline and Ruby who looked the most genuinely concerned for him. Yang couldn't string together an answer, so she just tapped the point on the back of Qrow's head, the Huntsman nodding in confirmation of something he had obviously thought of.

Although, before he could answer, the small farm-boy that had been following him around for a while actually spoke up, surprising most of them.

"He was struck in a pressure point that normally induces sleep, but since it was hit with that amount of force, it looks like he was knocked out instantly" he said in a strangely methodical manner, scratching his chin in thought. Weiss and Blake both cocked an eyebrow at him and looked at Ruby for answers, only for the girl to shrug, until it looked like he had an epiphany and made to speak.

"Oh, you guys haven't met Oscar yet have you!" she said, mentally face-palming herself as she realised she never introduced him. She looked down at Demon and decided to heed Qrow's words that he was going to be fine, and so stood up to introduce him.

"This here is Oscar Pine and he's travelling with us to help take down Salem!" she said cheerfully, both Weiss and Blake looking extremely sceptical.

"Not to be rude or anything, but is that really why he is here? He doesn't look... how do I put this? Ready to fight?" she said, slinking back as she realised just how bad it sounded. None-the-less the boy looked unfazed as he decided to reply for himself, rubbing the back of his neck in guilt.

"Well, yeah, I can't really fight, but what Ruby said is true... I'm here to help you with Salem. Well, not necessarily me... more like... yes, don't worry I was getting to that" he said, looking to the side as though he was talking to himself for the last part. Weiss looked at him with an even more arched brow, stepping quietly aside to Ruby and whispering to her.

"Are you sure he's... you know? Alright up there?" she asked timidly, Ruby turning to her and nodding.

"It's alright, just give it a moment"

By that time, the boy had taken a deep breath and looking down at the ground, seeming to shudder for a moment before he looked up again with a strange green glint in his eyes.

"Hello again Students" he said in a strangely familiar tone, the voice sounding almost as though two people were speaking at the same time, although it was nigh indistinguishable as to who they were. Both Blake and Weiss recoiled at that, looking at him strangely, their mouths dropping as they tried to comprehend what just happened.

"Wha..." Weiss began, stopping herself as she realised she didn't even know how to begin the question.

"I understand your shock Miss Belladona and Miss Schnee and it is quite well grounded... but rest assured, you already know me, albeit by another name"

The two of them looked more carefully at him and both their eyes went wide when they only just now saw the cane that was hooked onto the belt at his hip.

"Ozpin?" they both said, the 'boy' nodding in affirmation of their question, the both of their jaws dropping even further.

"It's a complicated story and one that I had hoped to share with all of you, but I'm sure neither of you can wait and I'm sure Mr Branwen will be fine with being informed afterwards... for now, let him rest... he's earned it"

Oscar/Ozpin beckoned them upstairs and gestured to Qrow who picked up his Nephew and carried him upstairs with the others, the group sitting around in the living area as Ozpin? stood at the head.

"Now, I'm sure all of you have questions and I will endeavour to answer them during this, but first... let me tell you..." he began.

Although, as all of this was happening, Rosaline was not paying any attention as her focus was on the crumpled form of Demon, the fact that she wasn't able to comfort him or at least help in any way eating away at her psyche. She was extremely worried for him, but still knew deep down that he would be fine, but even after consoling herself, she still couldn't bare being distracted from him even for a moment.

Even in her inability to help, the only thing that she could hope for was that he was having pleasant dreams.

 **Inside the mind of Hawk Branwen – Mind Link enabled**

If anything, this had to be the strangest dream that Demon had ever had. He knew he had blacked out as soon as Yang had slammed him with that massive hay-maker and yet, the second he opened his eyes again he found he was looking at the crimson leaves of the Emerald Forest again, although from a much lower perspective. He tried moving something, but couldn't even feel any limbs to move, it was as though he was a spectator to his own body.

The strange thing was that he was a lot closer to the ground than he thought was normal, because if he was gauging this correctly, he wouldn't have been any taller than a foot off the ground. What was even more strange was that he couldn't hear anything either and the world looked... different. It wasn't as if it was grey-scale but there were colours there that he had sworn weren't normal. Not as strangely new as when he turned into a bird in his dream/time-travel memory, but things that definitely messed with his perception.

The almost camera-like viewing that he had now was moving at a reasonably fast pace through the forest, to where he couldn't quite tell yet, but he was certain from a strange throbbing where his ears would normally be, there was something much larger behind him, but given the speed at which he was moving, he doubted it was a predator.

After a few more minutes of bounding through the admittedly scenic view of the Emerald Forest, his view stopped as the thing he was seeing from came across a large river that cut across their path. Thankfully, though, the thing stopped and trotted happily up to the river, leaning down to begin what he assumed would be to drink the water. He wasn't disappointed as he began to hear the lapping of water enthusiastically, but more annoyingly, he was surprised by what he saw in the reflection.

What he saw was that he was seeing through the eyes of the Beowolf pup he had met during the Vital Festival. He could tell, thanks to the trademark fact that some of its fur was slightly tinted white at some of its ends and its eyes weren't the full red that they normally were meant to be for Grimm.

" _Holy Crap..."_ he muttered, half to himself and half to whoever might be listening, the fact that this was all to real to be a dream dawning on him in that moment. What was truly shocking though was the fact that the pup bolted upright the instant he thought-spoke the words and looked around ferociously as if searching for the source.

 _"Wait, you can hear me?"_ he thought again, the pup's actions become more and more sporadic as their searching became irate, a deep growling emanating from its throat. The searching was interrupted by some colossal figure that lumbered up beside the smaller Grimm, the little pup looking up to see the absolutely gigantic form of an Ursa plonked down next to it. Demon recognised this one as well, his enforcer for the pack known as Rea'ksh. The little Beowolf began yapping at the bear in a timid and urgent manner, Demon's hearing going a bit blurry and muffled for a second before he began understanding it perfectly.

"... and then he said, 'can you hear me' or something like that, and it was SUPER scary!" said a young, feminine voice, obviously coming from the little pup, although Demon couldn't exactly tell because he couldn't see the thing's mouth moving.

"Are you sure it is not your imagination, young one? You do certainly have a creative mind..."

"Don't be mean uncle Rea'ksh! Help me look for the scary ghost!"

Demon snickered as he laughed at the fact that even Grimm were scared of things, something he never really considered even after finding out that they were almost the same as Humans.

 _"Hey, I'm not a ghost!"_ he interrupted, the pup jumping up in surprise and causing the Ursa look at the smaller Grimm strangely.

"There! Didn't you hear it!" she screeched, looking around frantically again, failing as always to find what she was looking for.

"Child, if this is some joke of yours, I am failing to find the point behind it" the Ursa muttered back as he used the river in front of him to wash off his paws casually, ignoring the antics of the Beowolf.

 _"It is me, your Alpha, I should think you would at least recognise my voice"_

The pup inhaled sharply and bowed at the imaginary master she saw in front of her, whimpering slightly.

"I'm sorry Alpha, I was just scared and then I got frustrated and then..." she muttered, acting as if she had committed some great evil against him and tried to apologise profusely.

 _"I don't need your apologies, it's completely fine... I myself am not quite sure how I got here myself, but you can stop searching, I think I am somehow within your mind"_

"WHAT! So, you can see everything I do and hear everything I think and look back on my memories in case I've been unfaithful or something!" she stuttered out, sounding more fearful and embarrassed by the second.

 _"No, nothing like that! I can hear and see what you can, but nothing more... I'm not sure how I can get out of here as well, I blacked out and just ended up here! Look, can you just tell Rea'ksh about what's happened, I'm sure he can help"_

She nodded her head vigorously and trotted up to the massive Ursa again, Demon only now seeing that the tiny pup was barely bigger than the massive Grimm's paws, the destructive devices easily being big enough to crush the little thing's body in one swing.

"Uncle, the Alpha's taken over my head and wants to ask if you know anything about what is going on!" she said with a straight face, the larger Grimm looking back down at her with a strange expression until he erupted in what he could only describe as laughter, if it came from a source that barely had enough vocal cords to facilitate the action.

"Oh, now you really do crack me up little one! I'll forgive you for your other joke because that one was good!" he said, going back to ignoring the little thing.

 _"Well, that's annoying... tell him that I'll personally make sure he gets treated like the Ursa Major that I decapitated during my last visit if he does not begin listening to you"_

"Ummmmm, well Alpha said that he'll cut your head off if you don't start listening to me" she muttered silently as she began rubbing her paws in the dust, knowing that it would be absolutely terrible if he still didn't believe her and would have to resort to disciplining her for speaking such words. The great Ursa turned slowly towards her and got up from his resting position, lumbering over and looking her in the eyes.

"Do you know the weight upon those words that you speak child? If this is still one of your jokes, then this has gone too far and I ask you to stop"

"But Uncle! I'm not kidding you, the Alpha's getting annoyed!" she whined, the Ursa breaking off and picking her up in one of his massive paws.

"If this is true, then I know a way to prove it... if not... no meat for a month" he said, the little Grimm shuddering at the mere thought until Demon had to comfort her on the fact she didn't need to worry because he was still in her mind. They walked for some time in another seemingly pointless direction until they began cresting on an incline with fewer and fewer trees crossing their path. Eventually it came to an area that was completely barren of plants and trees with even the ground being almost bare of grass, a strange ash coating the ground that looked as though it refused to be blown away in the wind that was obviously blowing if Rea'ksh's fur was anything to go off... and the fact that the Beowolf pup was sticking her tongue out happily.

Once they appeared to be fully within this strangely blighted area, he began seeing Grimm lounging about seemingly doing nothing. There was a few Beowolves mock-fighting and some Ursa's that looked to be mauling each other to pieces before walking off and licking their wounds. Three Nevermore's were perched up on a higher hill that was crested with rocks, preening their feathers casually, not caring for what was going on around them, Demon knowing that two of them would have been the two Nevermore's he had liberated from the other Alpha, the third probably being one that had found its way into his pack.

They were met by an Alpha Beowolf that bounded up to them and bowed to Rea'ksh, his breathing laboured and fast as Demon could see he must have been fighting or something, the fresh claw wounds reinforcing the fact.

"Araksa awaits your arrival!" he said as he looked up from his mock bow, receiving a nod from Rea'ksh and bounding off once again to re-join the majority of the Beowolves.

 _"I didn't know we had an Alpha Beowolf in the pack?"_

"Oh yes, Aunty Araksa was having trouble controlling the rest of my kind and decided to elevate someone to control them. They all fought for some reason and big brother Folgen took control after a while and now everyone listens to him!" she explained, Demon subconsciously nodding even though he didn't have a body. He did remember that name, it was the one he gave to the Beowolf that had assisted him in tracking down that other pack, at least someone that he knew would be loyal to him.

He didn't have any time to continue pressing questions as his view was switched to instead be dominated by the even bigger body of a Deathstalker, more specifically that of Araksa. She hadn't changed much since the last time he saw her, although if he had to guess without much to go off, she did look a tiny bit bigger than last time.

"Rea'ksh, I assume you let the pup gain sustenance?" she asked, the Ursa in question nodding in affirmation.

"Aye... but aside from that, there is an urgent matter with which I need to discuss with you"

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"The pup speaks of presence of the Alpha within her and I require a Seer to deny her fears"

The Deathstalker clicked her mandibles and looked at the little Beowolf, even intimidating Demon as he was forced to look up at what would have normally looked like a literal 50-foot tall giant if he was his actual size. The pup scurried to hide behind Rea'ksh's legs and peeked its eyes out timidly in fear of the massive Grimm Scorpion.

Araksa payed little attention to it and walked over to a nearby pool of some strange black ooze, its stinger plunging in and swirling it around for a time. She pulled her tail out with some of the ooze clinging to the end of her tail, not dripping as it should be despite its liquid appearance. She scuttled over to a nearby open area and slammed her stinger into the ground, keeping it there for a moment before pulling it out as quick as she could, the ooze being gone with no noticeable stain upon her stinger. The literal hole that was made as a result of the stab began to bubble and make a strange sizzling sound before a new object began to rise from its depths.

Out of the hole a strangely globe-like Grimm floated up from the ground, its head appearing to be a strange combination of opaque and the normal dark black of Grimm. Tentacles tipped with knives draped down from a strange ring of teeth that were around the bottom of the creature and it appeared to glow a ghostly red from the centre of its 'head' which pulsed every few seconds.

 _"What is that thing?"_ Demon muttered, not remembering ever seeing this type of Grimm before in ANY of the books, lessons or lectures that he had undertaken at Beacon.

"It looks really mean... I don't know what it is either" the pup answered, shuddering in fear as the strange Grimm creature began to float towards her, one of its tentacles reaching out as it came.

"Do not fear Child, this is simply to help you case" Araksa consoled, scuttling forward to follow the orb-like Grimm. The little pup was pushed forward by Rea'ksh until the pup and orb-Grimm were about a foot apart. One of the thing's tentacles reached down and was placed upon the little pup's head, Demon feeling a strange tingling sensation as it made contact. After a few moments, that tingling turned into a practical tidal wave, and in the blink of an eye, he found himself seeing from a different perspective. Instead of seeing the world as a foot tall wolf creature, he was instead now stuck looking out of the floating Grimm, being somewhat floating around his natural height above the ground, a strange sense of control now returning to him.

He tried moving his arms and instead, two tentacles responded to his mental commands, Demon bringing them up to his eyes to scrutinise his appendages before bringing up two more. Despite being normally bound to two limbs, it felt disturbingly natural to be in control of more than one, every movement not needing more than a simple thought to be carried out.

Breaking out of the stupor of inspecting this strange body, he was once again brought to face both Rea'ksh and Araksa as they stared at him, or more specifically at the Grimm he was now inhabiting.

"Well, I'm sorry pup for doubting you, looks as though what you said is correct" conceded Rea'ksh, taking a slight bow to Demon even though he was floating around in the weird globe thing.

 _"Uuhhhh, this isn't exactly going to work if I can't talk to you"_ Demon thought, although both the Grimm in front of him nodded at the words.

"We can hear you Alpha and we feel you... it is humbling that you once again grace us with your presence" Rea'ksh spoke, placing an arm across his chest. Araksa on the other hand... well, she looked like she would be chocking him out if he was actually there in person.

"Alpha..." she spoke with a slight hint of distain in her voice, although Demon could tell it wasn't built on hate, moreso on annoyance than anything else. "Why have you failed to tend to your pack once again? We have gone for months without you and I don't know how much longer my control with last" she spoke, Demon furrowing his imaginary eyebrows as he thought.

"What has happened since last I saw you?"

"I have been forced to act upon my own thoughts and indulged in the feeding of the pack, lest we starve"

Demon swore mentally in his mind and worried for the fact that they had already spoken to him previously that they fed off the negative energy of people or something along those lines...

"But do not fret, we refrained from slaughter as you had instructed. We surrounded one of your mortal villages and had our fair drink from the fear that they exuded"

 _"Thank you for listening, if my plan is to come to action, I really do need you to lay low"_

"I thought as such... so, Alpha, what are your wishes"

 _"Well, while I am here there is something I need to speak to you about of great important... I need to ask you first, though, do you know where this 'She Who Corrupts' is exactly?"_

"I do not know why you would require such information, but her influence is projected from some point up the continent and across the great oceans away from the ice that caps the top of this world"

 _"Hmmm... so she isn't in Atlas, so it MUST be that massive uninhabited continent as I guessed... well, I guess that's far easier that invading the largest military nation in the world"_

"Invade? Do you wish to find She Who Corrupts for yourself?"

 _"In a sense... in truth, I have high aspirations for the pack and with She Who Corrupts still running around, I can't do that. Which brings me to my point, there is something that I need your opinion on"_

"Anything you ask Alpha..."

 _"Well, I know this may sound strange... but I wish to reinstate the Fifth Kingdom of this world once again under the banner of the Branwen's"_

"I have not heard that name before, I am to assume that it is your Human Family name?"

 _"Yes, but that is besides the point... what the real point is what I wish to do AFTER that"_

"And this has to do with us, yes? Before you ask, it is no easy task to travel across the land masses of this world with a pack of this size... possible, but not easy"

 _"Inconsequential really, as long as I can do it, I'll make sure I have the time... what I really wanted to talk to you about is something that I have already begun within my mortal world, something called Project Chimera"_

"Named after the great Grimm beasts of that formed the _To Hebi, Kuma_ and _Okami_ of our species?"

 _"Ummmm, probably as long as it has three heads, a snake tail and wings"_

"I do not know what you speak of, but if you do not reject it without some knowledge then I assume that it would be correct"

 _"We really need to work out the comparisons between out species to make these talks easier... well, as I was going on to say, I have received cooperation with several high-ranking societies within mortal society and I only require a few more steps to have reach the endpoint, which is where I need your input... I wish for the united efforts of Humanity, Faunus kind and Grimm to fall once again under one banner... I wish to reunite your kind with mine"_


	26. You thought he was gone

**Tempest: Look, all I'm saying is that there is no way that Goku could beat Superman!**

 **Ok... I have many questions, and the first is why the hell are you talking about that, you were literally talking about pancakes two seconds ago?**

 **Tempest: Yeah, but that doesn't make for good reviews and a good way to start the stupid pre-chapter spiel we do**

 **We could, you know, actually talk about the chapter?**

 **Tempest: Pfffft, nah... well, we got some extra time because of the DAMNED MONTH LONG WAIT WE HAVE FOR THESE THINGS!**

 ***deep inhale*... ok, look... I'm swamped with stuff and this is by far the second top of my priorities, so give me a break! Anyway, so that you don't mess this up anymore than normal... HELLO FAITHFUL VIEWERS! Well, it's been slow because as I said I have zero spare time to work on this thing but I am slaving away as best I can to make sure that it's as comprehensible for you guys**

 **Tempest: Yeah, because you TOTALLY explain things well**

 **... I'm not going to respond to that. Well, look, I'm sure you'll be happy to get on with the chapter rather than listen to me and this idiot have a little rant, so here we go. Firstly, though, I am SEVERELY AND COMPLETELY SORRY for everything I have done with the OC Characters that were sent in to me. I WILL ADD THEM IN, but I just need to get to that point and I keep coming up with plot-points that I can use in between... but I WILL ADD THEM IN! And the submissions aren't closed. Send in weapon names, OC ideas and even story ideas and I'll be happy to look over them and even possibly (probably) add them into this crappy fanfiction!**

 **Tempest: Soooooo... about that Infinity War thing?**

 **NO SPOILERS!**

 **Naughtbeast**

 _Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit... WHY DOES IT ALWAYS HAVE TO HURT SO MUCH!_

These weren't exactly the kindest of words for the situation, but it described just how Demon was feeling at the current moment of his day, most notably as result of the predicament he was in. Every single muscle pained as though he had just run for seven hours straight over landmines in the middle of a desert during a sandstorm while having two tonne weights attached to them... and his head, well, he'd had worse.

His entire body was racked with pain as badly as he had it after his first Pilot training course and he had hated how it had happened even more. During the conversation he had undertaken with his Grimm pack the day before, he had ensured that the intricacies of his plan were explained in depth, but his meeting was cut-short per-se as he felt his conscious practically ripped from where he was and back into his normal body.

What followed next was him bolting upright instantly out of the transition, causing a very startled scream from Rosaline who had been next to him at the time, and immediate regret from Demon as he only then began to feel the pain. He had almost collapsed again right there but settled for flopping down onto the couch, taking his mask off instantly and taking breaths so fast and frequently that it began to hurt to breath purely for that reason.

It took him a few moments to settle down into a reasonable rhythm and with a pained grunt, he sat himself up, his eyes going wide from the amount of pain that racked his body from that simply movement, amplifying what he thought were the worst feelings he'd ever had to experience. He almost passed out right then and there and only after vomiting up what he had left of his food in what seemed like forever, he could finally breathe easy.

"What... the hell... happened" he coughed out through a ragged throat, his hand clutching to his chest as the speaking sent more spikes of pain throughout. He briefly considered trying to massage his heart or at least get his armoured gauntlets off, until he remembered the rather annoying fact that Salem had stuck some stupid crystal in his chest... and he did NOT want to explain that right now.

"You dropped harder than a sack of potatoes" Jaeger called out from a seat off to his right, his head struggling to move... and even more struggle was had when he moved his arm to flip him off.

"Are you alright?" Rosaline softly asked from beside him, Demon nodding as much as his pain would allow. She smiled and slowly helped him to sit up properly, receiving a small 'thanks' in the middle of grunts.

"Yeah, I just... damn that was a good punch" he spoke, rubbing the back of his neck only to recoil as he felt the massive bruise that was still there. He let silence reign and looked around the room, seeing that the only inhabitants were himself, Rosaline and Jaeger, a few sounds coming from the kitchen indicating that they weren't the only people here, but he could tell that not everyone was still in the building. "where is everyone else?"

"Qrow and everyone else went off to speak to the local Huntsman Academy about rounding up some support... they're talking about heading off into the wilds to try and find a roaming Bandit tribe who they think has one of the Maidens" Jaeger interrupted, stopping with the cleaning of his rifle to look up at him.

"Maiden's? What are you talking about?" Demon asked, not quite grasping what they were talking about, and he was sure he wasn't forgetting something that he had been told before.

"Wait... you haven't heard of the Maiden's before?" Rosaline asked in confusion, almost face-palming when she realised that none of them had bothered to explain them before. Jaeger took the liberty of being frank about it and began explaining it before any of them could but in.

"Basically, four chicks were given magical powers by some old hermit guy and the powers are passed down to the last person that they were thinking of... as long as it's another girl, if not then it just randomly goes around the planet until it finds some unfortunate soul to take up the burden. They're named after the four seasons and they can apparently access these weird 'Relics' or something that are protected by the Huntsman Academy's and are the entire reason why Cinder and her lackies attacked Beacon"

"Wait... Cinder? Who the hell is that?"

All present within the room deadpanned at that statement and Jaeger just sighed heavily before responding to the extremely annoying statement.

"Do you even listen to half the things we talk about? She's the fire lady that kept attacking Ruby!"

Demon sat there for a few seconds, slowly nodding as he pretended to know who they were talking about, receiving a face-palm from Kira who knew what was going on. He sat there for a few more moments until it finally clicked in his brain.

"OOOHHHHH, wait, I remember her now! She's the red lady I saw on top of Ozpin's tower that was taken away in a Bullhead!"

"Is that where she ran off to?" came a new voice from the side of the room, Demon and the others turning to see Weiss walking into the room, although Demon had to raise his eyebrows in the rather strange outfit she was wearing. For what he believed was the first time, the Schnee was wearing what he assumed was her version of casual clothes. A knee-high white skirt was accompanied by a slightly loose grey t-shirt while she kept bare-foot, her normally side-tailed hair instead let loose down her back, being bunched by a scrunchie to make sure it didn't fall onto her face.

Over her shirt, however, she was wearing a bright yellow apron with 'kiss the cook' written on the front with a large DON'T scrawled on with black marker, the apron being covered in some sort of dough that was splotched everywhere, her hands looking to be covered in some sort of white powder, barely visible against her ghostly skin. Demon made to open his mouth to ask about the get-up, only for her to hold up her finger to silence him.

"Before you ask, this apron is Yang's... and I'm getting lessons from Ruby on how to bake cookies" she filled in, Demon raising an eyebrow while Rosaline snickered.

"Nice to know..." Demon answered, not quite sure how to respond to that.

"WEISS! THE COOKIES ARE BURNING!" he heard Ruby shout from the kitchen and said Schnee swear under her breath as she turned around at a breakneck speed and raced back into the kitchen.

"Well, that was a thing. Where did the others run off to?" Demon muttered, lifting himself up off the couch and began working out some kinks in his bones, loud cracking sounds coming from his joints as he twisted to relieve the tension.

"Qrow took them for another meeting with the Headmaster of Haven. Do you reckon you're good? We were meant to stay here until you woke up, but you seem well enough" Jaeger noted, standing up and putting away his rifle-cleaning supplies.

"Yeah, I'm a bit sore from the whole knocked-out thing but nothing that a few hours of rest can't fix" he assured her, giving a thumbs-up, despite having to bite his lip to stop himself hissing in pain. He looked at him strangely and nodded, leaving he room silently and leaving Rosaline and Demon in the room.

"Hey... are you really alright?" came the soft voice of Rosaline, the girl standing up from the couch to stand a few steps away from him nervously. Demon turned around and gave her a smile to instil some sense of relief in her, but at that moment he grimaced, and it turned into some strange expression that made Rosaline's own falter. He cursed to himself and gave up there, not bothering to hide it from her.

"I don't feel so good... everything hurts, and I can barely think straight. I had weird dreams while I was out and I'm not even sure what happened"

"I can... ummm... give you a massage if you want? If you think it would make you feel better" she asked timidly, blushing up a storm as she stuttered out the words, leaving Demon to go wide-eyed when he heard it, his mouth dropping a bit at the forward statement.

"I mean... sure... if you want to?" he replied slowly, not quite sure what the best answer would have been, but admittedly his reluctance to refuse a women's asking won out. He wasn't exactly opposed to it as he had already massaged her after the first round of the Vytal Festival, but it still felt strange. She quietly stepped over and undid the clasps of the armoured gauntlets, slowly taking them off and putting them carefully on the couch, beginning to lightly roll her palms across the back of his shoulder blades. Demon didn't exactly know what to expect from it, but it was soooooo much better than standing and suffering in silence. He swore her hands were magic as they relieved the pain and tension that were a result of his weird comatose dream, he didn't even know how to properly explain the feeling.

"Holy crap, how are you this good?" he asked, his head involuntarily moving as she pressed into his neck muscles, lightening his headache and sending soothing spikes through his muscles.

"Well, back on Earth, I was one of the best students in my classes, but my family thought that the only way I was going to be successful was if I was married off into a rich family, so they trained me into what was essentially a servant to make me a 'better' person in their eyes"

"You're kidding me! They still have that going on back on Earth?" he asked incredulously, not really sure on any Earth customs that had come to, or ceased to, exist since last he had heard of it.

"Not quite. I was born into aristocracy, you could say, and my family or more specifically my mother didn't want a smart heir who would go off and marry for love to any old person. She wanted money and didn't want to work for it. My father had experienced this and understood how she was trying to mould me for her own ends. He was... always the one I liked the most in my family and he paid for private tutors during my free time so that I could continue my studies"

"It's good to hear that you had someone supporting you"

"Yeah, but it wasn't until they actually tried to marry me off that I tried to go against them. It was to this absolute slug of a man, he was literally three times my age and was only interested in my family name, so on the day I was to meet him, my father paid for a train ticket and I ended up living with my uncle for about a year until I was legally allowed to govern myself. Well, that didn't really end up going well and just about every job I got into I washed out after a few weeks of being 'too nice' to the customers. Well, after that, the only job I was able to keep for a reasonable amount of time was as a masseuse"

"Well... you certainly had an interesting childhood. What happened to your family after that? You must have been pretty young to join the IMC and be the age you are now"

"My family hmmmm... my mother, well she passed away when my youngest sister was born and my dad's still at the family estate taking care of my siblings last time I checked. My father didn't exactly approve of me going into the military, but I made the decision after my uncle started telling me about his time during the Titan Wars and the 'terrorists' that were the Militia. Back then, I thought you were all radical groups on the Frontier that were opposing government to cause unrest, killing off the IMC despite how they were bringing much-needed resources back to Earth so that we didn't die. I wanted to help people, and I saw stopping the Militia as the best way to save heaps of people"

"And then you found out just how the IMC actually were?"

"Almost. I had barely been in basic training for a week, but my shooting skills were slightly above that of the other recruits because I'd gone hunting with my father a few times, but nothing near where they needed it to be. During one of the firing drills we had, I accidentally forgot to turn the safety off on my weapon and the next person to touch it almost lost a finger. They called me up to the General's office and I tried to explain myself and he got me to clean his room as a punishment. Well, I didn't exactly know anything about military punishments, but I could tell that it wasn't what was meant to happen, so I tried to say against that to get proper punishments, but he took this as me trying to get out of it and faked my transcripts to transfer me to a far-out outpost in spite"

"Yikes, I didn't know the IMC were that bad? I know they're a bunch of assholes to just about anything that opposes them, but I thought they would at least treat their troops with some amount of respect"

"Not really. I learnt quickly that if you're not at least a Lieutenant then you're treated like dirt. I was shipped out in under a month of rushed final training in their logistics and ended up on a planet all by myself. The facility which you raided was basically self-operated with MARVN's to use the fuel pumps and a fleet would come through every week or so to check up on the fuel-lines and re-fuel their ships, but nothing eventful ever happened until you showed up"

"That's eye opening... how did you manage to pass the time without going insane or giving up and finding a way out?"

"What the General failed to realise is that the station also operated as one of the minor bouncing relays between Earth and most other IMC controlled frontier worlds. They basically unknowingly gave me access to just about every coded message sent between the mining fleets and Hammond Industries headquarters. I had access codes simply because the station was set up with the decoding systems and would store just about every message sent through. I sifted through them in my spare time and that was when I began seeing how the IMC really operated. I found out all the little atrocities that they covered up with blaming the Militia, the political polls that they won by buying out the competition, the worlds that they destroyed simply because they bled them dry of resources"

"Is that why you didn't kill me when you had the chance?"

"Well... I knew the Militia was in the right, but the IMC didn't exactly paint you in a positive light. I thought you were a machine, a literal demonic being made human that kills IMC without even batting an eye. But, when you talked to me it made me think... it wasn't as if you weren't an ACTUAL demon, you were a real person just like me. I knew that the IMC had painted the Militia in such a bad light, so what was to say that they weren't wrong about you... and they were"

"Thank you..." he whispered, smiling weakly as she returned with her own warm smile. She stopped the massaging and when Demon turned around to question why, he was surprised to find a pair of lips pressing against his and arms enveloping him in a hug. Demon himself was glad he wasn't having pain racking his body or he might have had to actually stop. She broke off and looked away sheepishly with a small look of what was almost guilt. Demon leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, wrapping her in another warm hug that she melted into, cradling her head in the crook of his shoulder as they stood in each other's embrace.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" asked a calm voice from seemingly out of nowhere, both of them knowing it was none from their small party of adventurers, and both quickly jumped back from each other with shocked expressions and slight blushes, Demon recovering a bit quicker to pull out the knife from his boot ready to throw at the newcomer. When he saw who it was, he sighed so heavily that it lasted for a good three seconds.

"How many times must I tell you that drawing a weapon is not a proper greeting" came the ever-calm voice of Raven Branwen who was currently reclined on the chair at the other end of the room, her boots resting on the nearby coffee table while her odachi and helmet were resting on the couch next to her.

"As many times as it takes for you to learn how to knock!" he retorted, throwing the knife at her in play, her hand casually lifting up to catch the blade in between her middle and forefinger, the woman twisting it around before pocketing it with a smirk. She looked over to the other occupant of the room and gave her a genuine smile, turning back to Demon with the same nonchalant smirk as before.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to this fine young lady?" she asked with a lilt in her voice, obviously to try and annoy her son, but Demon was as unphased as he was when anyone else tried to mock them. He rolled his eyes and straightened out his clothing.

"Rosaline, this is my mother Raven Branwen. Mother, this is Rosaline Sentetar, my girlfriend" he announced matter-of-factly, gesturing towards both of them in turn, the two of them exchanging greetings as he spoke. Raven was all but sizing her up and stood up to walk over to her, thankfully leaving her odachi lying on the chair. Rosaline herself looked rather confused but did well to hide it, although the other two occupants of the room could see right through it, mainly at the fact that she had heard all about Demon losing his mother, but she didn't quite know what to expect. In all honesty, she was surprised at how much the two of them looked alike, both having almost the same unkept hair, the same red eyes, albiet in only one for Demon, and both keeping to literally the same crimson and black colour-scheme.

"It's a pleasure to meet you..." Rosaline said as she offered a hand, Raven smiling as she reached out and shook it. As the tips of their fingers touched, they both felt a strange jolt of something shoot through their hands like one would from a static charge, but neither even flinched from it and continued on unhindered.

"Hmmmm... please, do forgive me but I do believe I've heard your name before and I can't quite put a placing on it" Raven asked as her eyebrows raised in scrutiny, narrowing them as something seemed to come back to her. "Your last name is Sentetar right?"

"Yes?" she answered hesitantly, not sure what she was getting at. Raven seemed to stop and think for no more than three seconds, a smile coming to her face when it finally clicked. She smirked and took a step back, curtsying and bowing with mock flair.

"Forgive me your majesty" she said with a lilting and laughing tone, Rosaline blushing considerably more as she clamped a hand over her mouth to stop the cry of surprise that was about to spill forth. She jumped forward to stop Raven from talking but the woman jumped back and looked to be genuinely smiling from laughter, Rosaline chasing her as she danced around the room with ease.

"NOOOO! How do you know about that!" she wailed, running around with some degree of urgency, but Demon could tell she wasn't actually trying as hard as she could. He stood there with a slight grin as he watched the two of them run around for a while, laughing to himself as Raven made herself a challenge to keep off the floor and balanced one-footed on the pieces of furniture strewn around the room.

"I wouldn't think a Princess such as yourself would stoop to such levels to live among us peasants!" Raven laughed while jumping again.

"Please no!" Rosaline pouted, taking another jump at the Branwen only for her to jump to the side and for the girl to tumple straight into Demon, knocking him to the floor even as he tried to move to catch her. They hit the floor with a loud thud and Rosaline instantly went red, jumping up before Demon could even recover and glaring daggers at Raven. She activated her Semblance and surged forward with a burst of speed as angelic wings propelled her in a gust of wind, catching Raven off-guard and slamming into her harder than she had to Demon. The two women tumbled and only stopped when they landed on the couch, neither moving from where they landed.

By now, Demon had finally sat himself up and looked over to the two of them, only to hear light laughter coming from the both of them, the two women untangling themselves which allowed him to see wide grins on both of their faces.

"Hah, I like this one!" Raven announced, walking back over to her mask and odachi, attaching both of them to her head and belt respectively, keeping her mask flipped up so as to not cover her face.

"What were you talking about before?" Demon asked, raising an eyebrow as the two of them adjusted their outfits back into reasonable condition. Raven looked over to Rosaline whose eyes were almost pleading her not to say anything, the older woman nodding lightly at the girl.

"Nothing that is in my rights to say... but anyway, there are other reasons I am here" Raven responded, Demon dismissing his interest to get straight back to business.

"Is this about the meeting before?" he questioned, guessing her interest before she could continue.

"Partly, now that I know you have satellites orbiting I've had Qrow call up some astronomers to find them and they weren't that hard to track down. No, I came here for something else"

She reached into a small portal she summoned out of nowhere and reached through, pulling out a small object was fit neatly within her palm, being too small for him to get a good look at it. She walked over and held out her hand, showing just what it was to him as she gestured for him to take it. It was a small pendant, looking almost ancient in design, with a dull and rusty bronze making up most of the jewellery, tiny flecks of gold flaking off from the design. The chain that was attached to it was rusted beyond belief with one or two of the links already broken, but not enough so that it had slipped out of the chain. Several smaller patterns ringed the outside of the pendant that had faded almost completely on one side, but he could see them to be tiny weapons of various types, crossing each other at certain points, yet they were almost gone.

The design in the centre of the pendant was another thing entirely but even from here he could see most of it was faded, so much so that the only thing he could make out from this distance was what was obviously a wing splayed to the side of the pendant which seemed to ring another emblem in the centre, but he couldn't see anything definitive that would give it away.

He reached out to take it from his mother's palm but as he touched the pendant to lift it up, he brushed against his mother's palm and felt a strange electric shock hit the tip of his hand and travel through his body, a loud crackling resounding through the room. His mask materialised over his shocked features as his vision was swirling with red. The strange reticule thing that followed his gaze was going haywire and strange swirling colours filled his vision. He almost swore that he saw some miasmic black energy surround his fist for a moment before it vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared. His own mother experienced a similar shock as she jumped back as though struck by lightning and her eyes flared a bright blue for a split second.

"No... please, no! It' can't be!" she spoke in denial, her eyes twitching between sorrow and rage. They heard a small pitter-patter of footsteps and Raven narrowed her eyes, flicking her odachi beside her and jumping through the portal, closing it as soon as the hell of her boot was through, a worried Ruby appearing at the doorway not a moment later.

"Is everyone alright in here?" she asked quickly, looking strangely fearful with Weiss bustling up beside her a moment later. They saw Demon standing with his mask up and his Aura flaring around him and made to draw their weapons, only they couldn't see anything that would have hit them. Rosaline didn't look tense but instead looked startled above all else, staring at Demon's outstretched arm. The two of them reluctantly sheathed their weapons again and stepped forward to see what Demon was looking at.

Now that he could get a better appraisal of the pendant, he noted how, despite its small size, it weighed far greater than it should have, probably owing to the dense metals it was no doubt constructed from. He traced the curves and etches within the tiny thing and found small catches and dividing lines throughout, his fingernails not being nearly strong enough to pry whatever mechanism was there open. The chain that was looped through a closed hook at the top was scratched and locked in some places, making it strange when he went to put it around his neck, the course rust on the thing making red marks on his skin around his neck.

He let it rest and for some strange reason he almost instantly began to accommodate the heavy weight around his neck, the trinket hanging around the centre of his sternum when the chain pulled taught.

"Where did you get that from?" asked Weiss, inspecting it slightly and reaching out to touch it, recoiling slightly when a tiny electric jolt sparked to her fingers when she drew near.

"My mother... she left just as you came in, but I don't even know what it is. She came here specifically to give this to me, so it must be important" Demon replied, fiddling with it further as the three girls crowded around to get a better look. Ruby looked away a bit as her brow furrowed and stepped up to him.

"Should... you know... I tell Yang about this?" she asked, torn between both her brother and sister, Demon turning to her with a smile at her pure hearted nature.

"Do what you feel is the right thing, I won't resent you for telling her" he said, ruffing her hair as the girl only looked more and more worried, so he thought it was best he just let it go "nevermind what I said, just tell her after she gets back, I'll deal with her afterwards"

They were quickly interrupted as the door to the hired apartment opened, causing Demon to grab the pendant and tuck it in the inside of his shirt, dismissing his mask once again, both annoyed and thankful for the mask's sudden appearances and opportune disappearances.

"I can't believe Josh got us kicked out!" complained a very irate Yang, Demon already seeing slight tints of red in her eyes even as she walked in, Tempest a step behind her as he looked to be trying to calm her down. Qrow and the kid walked in behind them, the former taking a hard and long swig from his flask while he rolled his eyes at the same time, an impressive feat considering he was also carefully manoeuvring around the others that pushed past him without even looking where he was going.

"Hey, I told you I don't even remember what happened!" the formerly addressed Josh replied, currently being shoved through the door by Kira, the four already present in the room seeing Jaune, Ren and Nora following up the rear of the group with a mixture of expressions.

"How can you forget that you pocketed a solid gold necklace!" Yang retorted, glaring back at him while Tempest tried to usher her away. Qrow walked past them and when Demon raised an eyebrow he just shrugged and walked past.

"Josh thought it would be a great idea to try and get away with stealing something from a high-end jewellery store and got busted" filled in Kira as she saw the four of them with confusion riddled across their features "although he doesn't remember it for some reason he still should be glad we managed to talk the shop owner out of calling the police"

"I already said, I don't remember doing it! I was framed!" he denied, looking around for anyone who would back up his claims, but finding no such people willing to assist. By now, Tempest had no doubt tried to get Yang into another room to stop her from punching him into the adjoining room, whereas the three members of JNPR, Qrow and the kid had gone around to other areas of the house.

"Where did Blake go?" asked Ruby, obviously concerned with her teammate's whereabouts, letting out a sigh of relief when she heard the faunus had elected to stay out a bit longer to find a bookshop within the large city, honestly something she should have come to expect by now. Demon took the opportunity to slink out of the sight of the three of them and made his way over to where Qrow was lounging, choosing to speak to Josh about what happened after he got the important stuff out of the way.

"Did the meeting go well?" he asked, sitting next to him as he finished off another sip of his flask.

"Yeah, as well as it could go, kid. That old bag won't listen to me without Ozpin around and he's too jittery..."

"Did you tell him my plan?" Demon asked, leaning in close so that only the two of them could hear. Qrow put away his flask and thought about it for a moment.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing" he asked, not bothering to answer the question posed to him, instead retorting with one of his own.

"I have done this before... It's important we fight on our own terms and this allows that"

"I wasn't asking about that and you know it. I meant about your whole stupid 'reunite the kingdoms' jazz... I've been here for a hell of a lot longer and I can tell you right now kid, there ain't any chance of that happening, even if that whole meeting with the White Fang and stuff happened"

"Trust me... I know. What I'm planning isn't to reunite everyone, I plan to return the Fifth Kingdom and taking out Salem's allies is the first step forward"

"They're more powerful than you think... they've already got the Fall Maiden and their contacts are spread across every continent. Ozpin and his close circle have been working for far more years than I can count, and we haven't made any headway. They're beginning to make their move and I don't think we'll be ready... now isn't really the greatest time to start launching an offensive while they're already on the warpath"

"Now is the perfect time... with their thoughts in other places, they won't notice that they're being driven apart, or they'll realise immediately and dilute their efforts to the attack. Either way, we have the advantage"

"Kid... It's not that I don't trust you, but I doubt you've seen anything she can do"

"And that's where you doubt is misplaced... I've seen the armies she can rally, I have seen the things humanity has needed to do to survive and I'll do my damnest to make sure that never has to happen again"

Qrow, now, was silenced in his thoughts, turning to his nephew with dark eyes, betraying his scepticism on the subject. He was just about to speak again to question just what he was saying when the two of them were interrupted by a third voice, one that Demon was completely and utterly surprised to hear considering how he had not heard the man for some time.

"So... I see you have already went back to meet Phoenix then"

 **Raven Branwen – Outlands of Mistral City – Branwen tribe's lodgings**

Vernal wasn't exactly one to question the machinations of her leader, but something was definitely off. For the time she had known Raven Branwen, she had never had to stop to think about what they were doing. The woman had planned everything perfectly, down to the second timing, asset placements that made caravan raids go off without a hitch and the only thing she thought she could possible improve on would be demoting that asshole of a captain she'd put on gate guard duty far too many times.

But now, as the singular most feared entity within the entire encampment was pacing up and down the inside of her temporary housing, she was beginning to wonder what the hell was going on. Raven had appeared almost completely unannounced after disappearing to 'take care of some things' saying that she would be back a lot longer after when she actually did, which was the first red flag, while the second was that she could see the tiniest flicker of glowing blue energy tinting her eyes.

Raven hadn't even acknowledged her existence once and had begun pacing up and down the hall while muttering to herself, saying more than a few swear words that would make even the hardiest of Vacuo sailor's blush, but Vernal could do no more than stand to the side with a tray of tea carefully balanced in her hands while her head turned back and forth as Raven paced.

"Is... everything alright?" Vernal asked timidly, only receiving a small hand gesture that was akin to 'be quite' as Raven failed to even tilt her head to acknowledge the words. She continued pacing for what seemed like hours until she eventually came to a stop and took a cup of tea from Vernal's waiting tray, taking a sip and putting it back... before resuming the pacing again.

Vernal didn't want to interrupt anything, so when one of her fellow bandits pushed open the fabric door of the hut, she practically jumped forward to take him outside before Raven noticed.

"What is it?" she hissed, still somehow keeping the tea perfectly stable without spilling a drop. She could see he was fearful but could already tell it wasn't of her and Raven hadn't given her daily lecture yet, so there must be something else. "Is it Grimm?" she asked, the bandit shaking his head a bit too quickly for his liking. He didn't say anything and pointed over his shoulder, Vernal looking up, causing whatever mood she was in to instantly plummet into 'you have got to be kidding me' in a second flat.

Standing in the centre of their little bandit tribe, waiting patiently, was a group of four, none of which she recognised. There was one wearing a formal coat with a ridiculously large moustache which she had to admit was rather masculine, although the other three where who she could tell would be the most problematic. There was two that were particularly strange, being that they were simply children, neither looking out of their teens, but she could tell by their careless gait that they were in their element.

As here eyes narrowed to the boy in grey and black, it finally clicked. He was the boy who had his legs broken during the Vytal festival by that Beacon student. Raven had insisted they watch it so they could gain more insight into how Hunstmen and Huntresses fought, but even she could see the wince on her features when the even happened. If he was this up and around now, not nearly having enough time to recover from the wound that would have been caused by those girl's weapons, then she doubted that he was all as he seemed.

The one in red though... that was when she began to worry. Her Aura radiated power and she could feel a strange heat pulsing through her every time their eyes met and that wasn't in any way a good thing.

"I wish to speak with Raven Branwen!" the one in red announced, stepping forward in something that would have possible been a formal request if it wasn't for the fact that Vernal could blatantly see weapons in the green girl's holsters and the fact that she guessed that the girl wasn't the only one armed.

"Who's asking?" Vernal asked, crossing her arms and acting indifferent despite knowing she was currently outgunned, being that a four on one wasn't much a fight as she knew the other bandits weren't exactly much to what she could guess were trained Huntsmen and Huntresses.

"A Maiden..." the one in red answered, her singular visible eye blazing with a fire seemingly sparked from nowhere, Vernal's shocked and angered expression being held back by a mask of indifferent, her expression never changing despite her emotions. She huffed and nonchalantly turned around to fulfil their requestion, despite knowing the dire situation they were in.

"They've found us" she said as she entered the tent, Raven still not looking up from her trance-like state until Vernal practically went up and slapped her across her cheek. This seemed to knock her out of her stupor and only now did the bandit realise that the woman was crying, albeit small, but noticeable all the less despite how an arm went to wipe it away not a moment after she realised.

"What is it?" Raven asked, looking straight at Vernal with no trace to indicate what she had been doing previously, the bandit ensuring to reply almost instantly.

"They've found us Ma'am, Salem's henchmen" she answered, stepping back as Raven's eyes flared with rage, her mask and odachi instantly finding their place as Vernal herself grabbed her dual weapons, placing them on her back in case they were required. Raven swore to herself in several different languages, some of which Vernal didn't recognise until, just as they were about to step from the house, she stopped. Raven seemed to stare up at the ceiling for nothing more than five seconds, until seemingly without que, she stepped forward through the door and to her awaiting guests.

Raven, at the current time, was freaking out beyond belief. She knew this time would come, but not so soon, not now, not when she had so many other things to worry about. The four in the centre of her camp only confirmed her suspicions and caused her to swear even more. She knew all four of them by rote and didn't need any introductions with the reputations that preceded them... bar the small mint girl, she was the hardest to find information on. Yet, as she walked out and began her spiel to her assembled bandits, she was thinking of far more important plans.

She thought it had been simple... she thought Masamune was overreacting... but no, this was far worse than she could have ever imagined if her fears were correct. She had lost too many of her friends, too much of her family... and yet, the last remaining relative she had which didn't despise her was too soon going to be ripped from her. Her own son no less, and yet... she felt as though she deserved this. For everything she had done, she deserved something like this... but alas, she had a duty on this planet and she refused to let this destroy her psyche, and there were ways around this. Salem... she was the reason behind this. He was corrupted by Grimm and he could be cured... she just needed to find a way.

By now, her spiel was finished, and she did the obligatory name-asking to feign ignorance, yet she was dreading what would come from this. They answered with at least what she figured they would, but they only introduced the teens as this 'Cinder's' disciples. She would get over that immediately, so she would at least need to crack the tension to show just what kind of position they were in.

"So, we have two children who you've tricked into following you, a disgraced Atlesian Scientist, and a Fall Maiden with a surname so appropriate, she probably picked it herself. Something tells me you've got more than a slight case of egomania, is that about right?" Raven quipped, drawing a smirk from Watts, while Cinder and the other two just snarled.

"Technically, I was also a doctor, but I must say, the rest was spot on"

"We're the one with the power here, we're the ones you should be afraid of!" the Mercury boy snarled, stepped forward only to stop when Raven slightly pulled her odachi slightly from the sheath. She made a show of pulling it out slowly and created a tiny portal from the tip and shoved the blade through. Mercury didn't have enough time, nor the reflexes, to even notice where the blade came from and a second later he heard the renting of metal and looked down to see an odachi blade sticking through his left leg.

He tried to growl in anger, only for the sword to disappear and for him to collapse to the ground without control of it. Raven pulled her sword from the portal with a smirk but kept her blade out, neither Cinder nor Watts looking phased by the display as she felt that even the two of them were sick of his antics.

"Mercury!" the girl in green gasped in surprise, drawing her blade and, once again like Mercury, she stopped when a portal opened next to her and a blade was pressed to her throat.

"Both of you should know I could have killed you at any point in this conversation... be glad that you life was spared by the company you keep" Raven announced, drawing her blade out and sheathing it finally, turning to the two adults in the conversation to continue. "I assume you've come here for something? I doubt my men would be alive if you wanted to try and kill me?"

"How perceptive of you" Cinder replied, stepping forward to continue the conversation. "We have come for the Maiden"

Raven's eyes narrowed, and she rested her hand on her odachi hilt once again, knowing just how quickly this could turn south from this point.

"Vernal!" she shouted, said woman coming from the tent with weapon kept in its place, the masked Huntress nodding to her, receiving a nod. Vernal closed her eyes and held out her palms, the skies above reacting almost immediately from the magic that Cinder could feel flowing around them. Storm clouds appeared to form from nothing above them and light rain began to pitter-patter down, deafening thundercracks booming around them while lightning cracked to the ground. Vernal finally wound down her display and her eyes re-opened, the great storm clouds above dissipating within moments.

"So, this is the long lost Spring Maiden... Raven, I won't underestimate you so I expect the same courtesy of you, so don't insult my intelligence. There is a slim chance that you and your Maiden can escape today, but you would know best of all of us that you would never truly escape. But, we come bearing an olive branch"

Now, it was Watt's turn to step forward to talk with the Bandit leader.

"The Maidens are merely a means to an end. Salem's true desires are the Relics that are held within the Huntsman academies. Come with us and allow Vernal here to unlock the Relic of Knowledge, and every slight you have committed against Salem will be forgiven" he announced, although before he stepped away he leaned in to her ear and added to his spiel "It's the best deal either of you are going to get"

He stood up straight and nodded to her before walking back to his place, allowing Raven to think.

"One does not simply walk into Haven unchallenged" spoke Raven after some silence, Cinder smirking as she caught the proverbial fish hook, line and sinker.

"You underestimate our power. Headmaster Lionheart is loyal to Salem now. All we need is the key to the vault. You're not the only one to turn your back against Oz"

"I'm not helping Salem... I'm not helping Oz! I don't want any part of this and you are wearing my patience thin!" the ravenette barked, Vernal reflexively reaching for her blades as she felt Raven's tone raise.

"That ship sailed when you chose to harbor a Maiden. But, if you come with us to Haven, we'll leave your tribe, and your secret to live out the rest of your lives squabbling in the wilderness. We just... need... the Relic"

"I think it's about time you leave" Raven said aloud again, drawing her odachi once more, followed by Vernal and several clicks of weapons being turned off safety by the large number of bandits that had inconspicuously set up with weapons while the four were talking. Mercury and Emerald went wide-eyed and tried to put up a fight, only for several stares from the bandits making them rethink their choice. Cinder and Watts didn't react as suddenly to the threat, the older Atlesian scientist putting his arms up in mock surrender, his face not really betraying any emotions.

"You are making a mistake Raven... there are things we can offer you, your freedom being the least of all"

Raven herself, made to strike... before she stumbled upon thinking of something specific that she hoped would at least give her some sort of reason to get out of this without risking her safety afterwards.

"Salem has control of Grimm, right?" she asked, raising a hand to halt the others who were making to attack. Cinder raised an eyebrow at the question but answered nonetheless.

"You know that already, why do you ask?" countered the Fall Maiden.

"I need something done and it is something that someone with your connections can accomplish, so if you agree then I might consider cooperating"

"Do tell"

"One of my accomplices has come to be the host of a Grimm entity and I need an exorcist"

Now, this had Cinder's attention.

"Please Miss Raven... do tell"


	27. True Fiction

**Urggggggggg... I cannot express in words the amount of pain this chapter has taken to complete. With several file corruptions and simple failings to work properly, the amount of time I sunk into getting this done is something that would just pain me to look at... so instead I'm just going to skip the introduction and give you a big SORRY FOR THE BLOODY WAIT instead...**

 **Tempest: Damn right man, it's been like two months since the last chapter! Don't keep your loyal fans waiting!**

 **Yeah, I really cannot say how sorry I am for making you guys wait and to say that I'm NOT letting this story die, no matter how hard and how long I have to work to get these chapters out and to give you guys the best read I can with my sub-par writing skills... so, to hell with introductions, here's the start of the chapter without further adieu, hopefully the next one won't be as far away...  
**

 **Naughtbeast**

 **Chapter 24:**

Currently... a lot of things were running through the mind of one Hawk Branwen. His position, while indeed not really life threatening, was interesting to say the least. He was currently sitting at a table in a less than well-known bar on the outskirts of Mistral with a drink in his right hand while his left was scratching indents into the table as his mood was slowly shifting south. The cause of his plight was more or less because of the person that sat across from him. That person being the boy he now knew as Oscar.

The boy was young, probably almost as young as Ruby if he had to guess and was even less prepared to travel with Hunstmen than Jaune, despite the fact that Qrow had taken him in. Demon could see that easily enough by the way he fidgeted and kept stealing glances at his odachi and flinching every single time his armoured gauntlet lifted to take a drink.

"So..." began Demon, the kid's eyes quickly darting to meet his gaze, only to look down again as he shrivelled under the scrutiny. "You say that you're, what? The host to Ozpin's soul or something?"

"Well, that's what he says" the kid replied, Demon looking carefully into his eyes to search for any sign of a lie. His time in the Militia hadn't exactly been filled with interrogations, he had other people for that, but he did sit in for the torture session and had learnt a few things. Not because of some sick fetish or something, mainly for the sake of those being tortured as the instigator wasn't exactly... stable. But he couldn't exactly apply that here, so he'd have to go off what he learnt in training again.

"You're not exactly sounding sane here and the only reason I'm semi believing you is that you mentioned something that I know happened so something is going on here"

"It's probably best that you talk to him yourself"

The kid's eyes closed and after a few seconds, they opened again with a noticeable change in the iris colour, Demon recognising the off green as a staple of his former headmaster.

"Hello Mr Branwen, I do believe last time I heard you were on your way to fight an exceedingly large Draconic Grimm?" spoke a new voice coming forth from the boy's mouth, distorted by an unseen force and sounding as though two voices were overlapped to create one singular sound.

"Excellent memory as ever Headmaster... so how the hell is all this happening? Like, I have some serious concerns if you're suddenly possessing teenage boys to try and run your school"

"I should start off by saying you needn't worry Mr Branwen, I can assure you that this is purely circumstantial and that I am still, in fact, alive... unfortunately, my body has failed me and I have been forced to invoke ancient possession rituals to use this poor boy as a soul vessel of sorts. The process is completely random, and I had little control over where I ended up, luckily it was on this continent and it allowed me to meet up with Miss Rose and your Uncle"

"Well, that's not in the slightest bit creepy at all... so I take it the 'ancient rituals' was a first-hand learning considering you know Phoenix"

"Ah yes, the original Master of your clan. You remind me so much of him... he was the first friend that I truly had in this world and part of the reason why you stand here today"

"I had a feeling you letting me into your school straight off the bat was a bit shifty to say the least"

The kid laughed as Ozpin let out a chuckle through his form, shifting his hands almost out of habit onto the staff of the cane that was strapped to his side.

"Well yes, I had to say it did take me a considerable amount of time to convince Glynda to let you in and even after that she was more than cranky to say the least. You are right in saying that my age has factors into why I know so much about you and your clan, yet I intend to tell you in due time"

"You're age? So you're what? How many hundreds of years old?"

"Thousands Mr Branwen, I was there when the first war for Remnant was fought and I have been cursed to continue living on endlessly afterwards until my mistakes have been atoned for"

Demon nodded slowly, choosing to stay silent for a few seconds as he formulated another response, sipping from the beer in front of him. The liquid ran dry and he put the mug back down on the table, interlocking his fingers in front of him in thought.

"Can the kid hear you Ozpin?"

"I can limit his senses to a degree, yes? Would you prefer if we spoke of more... sensitive topics?"

"I just don't want to end up killing the kid if he ever gets captured"

Ozpin's eyes raised and he leaned back more, looking into Demon's eyes as if looking for something.

"Mr Branwen, I cannot help but be disturbed of how easily you discuss the killing of a boy barely into his teens, I understand the concept of it, but can you really bring yourself to do that?"

"That's besides the point Ozpin... now, can he hear?"

Ozpin was silent for a moment as he gauged the fact that Demon had neglected to answer the question but still went on with his request.

"His senses are dulled, yes, now speak your mind"

Demon looked around the bar they were in and nodded to the bartender who sent a curt nod back as well, walking over to the door and flipping the sign to closed, barring the entrance with a lock before walking out the back and leaving the two of them by themselves.

"What does the name Amber mean to you?" Demon began immediately, seeing the surprise written across Ozpin's face as he spoke the words.

"Where did you hear that name?"

"From the words of the woman you had locked up beneath your damned school in some top-secret vault!"

"Amber is alive? No, that's impossible, where did you hear this from?"

"I'm telling you, I pulled her from the ruins when I escaped, and she made a full recovery in hospital, she's in Vale General right now with that Faunus nurse you had look after me. I figured she'd be the best person to leave her with"

"Oh, thank the brother's that she's with Miss Canus. But how? I saw her shot with my very eyes, there is no way that she could have survived such a harsh wound. She was barely alive and the powers... well, I know for a fact that she died on the day of the attack on Beacon"

"Might want to rethink that, because as I've said... she's alive. I don't know how the hell she is, but she is so would you mind telling me why you had her locked up in your own private dungeon?"

"Tell me Mr Branwen, what's your favourite fairy tale?"

"You can cut that part out, Qrow's already given me the whole shtick about Maidens and all that. So, you're saying Amber was one of them?"

"Well yes, she was the Fall maiden and she was put there in a vain attempt at saving her life. Her powers had been partially siphoned by an enemy of ours and she was slowly fading to death, which would result in that enemy receiving ALL her powers, which we could not allow. I say with no small amount of guilt that we believed we could transfer her powers into young Miss Nikos, but it was the only option we had. Unfortunately, that plan fell through and she was killed and the powers ended up in the hands of one of Salem's minions. Please, you must tell me, did you see anything strange when you saw her, anything out of the ordinary?"

"Well, the arrow embedded in her chest disintegrated, but nothing other than that. There should have been a power re-transfer or something like that, yes?"

"Really, yes... the powers are tied to her soul, so for her to be alive again requires her powers... it's an impossibility, but if what your saying is correct then what I've thought for so long must be wrong"

"I can relate to that. Ancient powers and gods messing up and some weird chick intent on destroying humanity... honestly, the politics of the war back home was a hell of a lot easier to understand than this. But that reminds me... where is my home. Phoenix is, what? The first member of my clan if you can even call it that, but then how did I end up in another universe"

"Now that, I do know the answer for, but let me first tell you something. The clans of Remnant were formed for one purpose, the war on Salem. Semblances were created so that we had a chance against her Grimm armies and so the original four Maidens and myself instructed a select few on the technique to harness their aura into something that synthesised into the very fabric of their soul. It was an art that even I have forgotten over time, but it is never lost. Every member of those bloodlines still possess the untapped power but lack the guidance to access it"

"I don't see where this comes into play with my home or anything"

"In due time Mr Branwen. To get to the point so to say, I will skip the explanation of these bloodlines. With the manipulation of these souls, there were some unique circumstances that I could not foretell. As the power of these few souls grew, so too did they begin drawing in Grimm with heightened frequency... that was until I first learned of the Alpha's"

"Alpha's? How could you have not at least guessed they'd have pack leaders, every predatorial animal that shares a societal system does"

"You misunderstand. Not just the Alphas of each individual Grimm pack, no these were THE Alphas. They were... like no Grimm I'd ever seen before and even before that time I had lived for several hundreds of years and had never even gained a hint of their existence. My role is as a conduit for the two Brother gods that preside over humanity and I was there when the first Maidens received their powers, but they never told me that they performed the same ritual for the Grimm. The Grimm were a developed for destruction first and foremost, but the brothers saw more from what they were made from and so gave them what we had, the gifts of Choice, Knowledge, Creation and Destruction. When we first discovered Dust, one of the Grimm Alpha's in particular grew jealous of our power over them and sought to change that.

As of now, there are only two Alpha's remaining, thankfully the most powerful of the four sides with humanity the last time I checked but the other remaining is one I am sure you are familiar with by now, Salem. She is the combined minds and powers of the other three Grimm Alpha's, tainted with the ideas that culminated in a base hate for humanity, she altered the minds of the Grimm to accept her ways which changed them into what we know them as today"

Demon sighed heavily and went to take a sip from his mug again, growing slightly tired at the incessant rambling, only to become slightly irritated when he remembered that there wasn't anything left, looking Ozpin in the eyes as if to tell him to quicken the pace up a notch.

"Well, after we... failed to bring Salem down, our Alpha was badly wounded and in a near death state and so he retreated to the one place that Salem couldn't follow him, into your home universe. You see, the Brother's created your world after learning of the failure of the Grimm and locked your souls as there was no need for them to be set free. One member of both the four Seasons and the four Alpha's were elected as the judge to maintain order between the species and so were granted higher powers with which to exercise this jurisdiction. These powers include planeswalking, the ability to open portals between the realms and move freely between them, although during the time in which the Alpha was being transported, the powers moved out and touched the soul of Phoenix's firstborn child, pulling her with him and inevitably into a completely new universe"

"So, I'm a descendant of that child? Are you sure you needed that long explanation?"

"I am certain, for you aren't exactly... correct, perse when you say that you are a descendant of that child. You see... she was with child when the transport took place and the eldritch energies warped it into what we now call a Husk"

"That sounds awfully dismal and I don't think I'm going to like where this is going"

"Well, to put it simply, their souls is removed from their body and only their shell remains. This essentially destroys their entire existence and they are no longer classified as being 'alive'. Their soul takes residence within a plane that no one living has ever seen, the Incarnate, a plane of portals perse where all souls that are yet to be given purpose gather. In that realm, the soul is exposed to energy from all the connections until it is brought back to the Husk by chance or by purpose.

Although, there even if it does make its way back, that person is forever marked as a Husk. They're stuck in an eternal limbo without ethereal ties binding them to one singular plane and are separate from existence. Their body is a vessel for souls of any kind to take up residence to an almost limitless potential... they become conduits of pure power. A Husk isn't even considered Human, Faunus or Grimm. The Husk gene relies dormant through several generations until a child is born without a soul and they are free for another to take up residence in their body. From then, other souls gain residence in an ever-lasting competition for who is in control, often to horrific ends"

"And I assume you're telling me this for good reason"

"The temporal barrier between the planes is not always stable and so when your soul was pulled through, her child died that day... and you were born to her ancestor over a thousand years later"

"Wait... are you saying..."

"From what I have gathered, YOU are the grandchild to Phoenix Branwen in everything but body. You had enough of a connection to this world that when the time was right, you were pulled back here in another rift. Which is also why I do believe you have another entity within your soul besides that of who you identify as. Unfortunately, you should know without the proper training it may take over your conscience"

Demon stared at him for a few moments before his eyes seemed to unfocus, his mouth twisting in some strange sickening smirk. He brought up his arm and scratched the back of his neck, a small chuckle escaping his mouth as his eyes dilated in something that Ozpin couldn't quite place between confusion and rage.

"... You're kidding me right. That can't be right, I'm just... me, nothing more! I'm not one of these stupid 'Husks' or whatever you call it, I'm a normal damned human and you can't say anything otherwise!"

"Mr Branwen, I know this is a lot for you to take in, but do believe me, it is better for you to hear this sooner rather than later. I've had my suspicions for a while, but there are some things that even I don't know about you despite my age"

"What, so I'm just this useless container for souls and I'll eventually get controlled by some random soul that decides to take me over!"

"Well, that would be an extreme and highly unlikely given you haven't been controlled yet... have you?" Ozpin asked. Demon flinched slightly at his words but shook his head regardless, avoiding eye contact as he still tried to take all of this in.

"What if they did take control? Would I ever be able to get back into my body?"

"It depends on what, or more accurately who is in control at that moment. Without the proper training, a stronger soul can overpower yours into compliance"

Demon swore beneath his breath and unknowingly began scratching at his chest, his claws scraping up sparks on his chestplate at his breathing accelerated with strange tendencies. By now, Ozpin had definitely caught on to his strange actings and stood up as well, walking over to him and grabbing his shoulders, looking him in the eyes.

"By the Brothers, you have had it, haven't you!" Ozpin exclaimed, his eyes going wide as he himself drew back in surprise. "But that means... that shadow in the arena, you met it didn't you!"

"He's... it's... AHHHHHHHHHHHH! He's already taken control more than I've wanted it to, but it's the only chance I've got at beating Salem, without him I won't have enough power!"

"That's exactly what it wants you to think, the more you give in, the more control it can exercise and before you know it, I won't be talking to the Hawk Branwen I know..."

"But..."

"Mr Branwen, you must tell me, what is it you spoke to. There are only two things that I know can produce the shadow that I saw with my eyes and neither are something you want inside you. I know a ritual to purge it from you but I must know what it is so that I don't end up removing YOU first"

"It's... no, you're not getting rid of him, I NEED HIM!"

"DON'T LIE TO YOURSELF!" Ozpin snapped, grabbing Demon by the arm. As his fingers glanced against Demon the boy's aura flared a burning black that seeped out of the cracks in his armour, exuding a strange pressure that Ozpin could feel in his own head somehow. Images flashed through his mind at a million miles per second until he finally saw something which made his blood run cold. A black flame that was burning in an endless abyss, shadows somehow still flickering around the empty space to illuminate a figure that stood behind it. The figure brought back memories, none of them even remotely good and he could only fear for what was to come if the boy was truly harbouring what he knew this being represented.

Ozpin blinked his eyes and found himself back in reality, his hand already slapped away as Demon turned to face the boy, his anger flaring and being emphasized by his fingers splaying out looking ready to attack at any moment. Ozpin's mouth dropped as he finally saw what had happened and swore to himself when he realised just how horribly true his predictions were. Demon's right eye was still the signature red of his family, but his left eyes, what used to be the subtle silver was now pulsing with a pure red burning, the whites of his eyes and pupils replaced by the blood red... that he expected to see in the eyes of a Grimm.

"Back off Ozpin... I'm doing this the way that gets the least people hurt and without Kalazar I can't do anything! I don't have anything else to discuss with you... so leave me alone to do what you've failed to do your entire life"

Demon's eyes glared down Ozpin as he moved over to grab his odachi, attaching it to his back and placing his mask back over his head, walking to the door and slamming it open, not bother to look back at Ozpin who was still standing dumbstruck by how horribly everything was turning out for his predictions. He finally snapped out of his stupor and rushed to the door, pushing to open to only catch the turned back of who he was searching for. As he watched, he noticed something that truly did turn his bloody cold. On the small patch of exposed skin between his mask and neck next to his right shoulder there was a symbol... one that he himself truly wished he never had to see again.

"STOP!" she shouted, only for Demon to turn around with a glance, growling slightly with the same burning red eyes, his figure blinking out of existence in a blur of Semblance, a faint wisp trail of smoke leading up the street in the direction of their Inn. He swore internally and started running in the direction, forgetting himself and switching control back to Oscar as he was running.

"Woah!" exclaimed Oscar as he took control back over, stumbling slightly on the street before slowing down, only for Ozpin to roar at him in the back of his mind.

 _"Do not slow down, get back to the Inn as soon as possible!"_

Oscar didn't bother to question and picked up his pace again, moving through the streets and trying to avoid the people that were thankfully moving out of the way for him.

"What happened and why couldn't I see or hear anything back in the bar?" questioned the boy out loud this time, quickly realising his mistake and thanking the fact that Ozpin seemed too distracted for him to scold him for it.

 _"One of my students is in significant danger and we must get to the Inn to warn everyone before anything bad happens. I'm afraid I can't explain his situation in detail, just that if we are not quick we will unfortunately have to face a VERY angry Grimm"_

"A GRIMM!" Oscar nearly shouted, receiving a few strange looks from the people on the street, but they all dismissed it when they saw he was just a boy.

 _"Yes... but I'm afraid I might be too late to do anything effective. As long as we can get to the Inn before he runs off then it might just turn out alright"_

 **[The Bannered Mare Inn – Room 273]**

Blades flashed, the clash of metal on metal was once again filling the practice hall within the room rented by Qrow. Luckily, this crossing of blades was once again for practice over anything else as the two currently sparring in the arena were both practiced veterans. Jaeger and Kira were both brandishing Militia standard knives as they circled each other in the small pit arena, their bodies crouched down with predatory gazes locked onto one another.

A quick jump by one of them was met with an arm lock from the other followed by a quick counter-attack that was counteracted by the other in turn. They would scuffle with both having their knives firmly disabled by the other before jumping back to re-assess the situation and begin the process again.

"What type of techniques is this, I've never seen it used before and yet they both seem to be firmly proficient in it" came the calm voice of Ren off to the side as he observed, addressing Josh and Tempest as they watched the two fighting off to the side. Both went to answer, only for Markus to butt into the conversation before either could spurt out a word.

"It's a style integrated by the first commander of the Militia that was initially developed to combat an alien species that was present on the Militia homeworld of Harmony. The technique focuses on locking down limbs to restrict use of tools and is particularly useful against the commonly taught hand-to-hand that the IMC uses"

Rosaline was watching off to the side as well, nodding her head to back him up.

"Yeah, even though I never went through the full CQC course I can still see why the IMC's grunts wouldn't be prepared for this, we're only ever trained to fight with our knives over hand-to-hand so as soon as that's gone, they'll slip"

Their attention was drawn back to the arena as Kira had managed to get the upper hand. Her leg had wrapped around the back of Jaegers and she swept him to the floor, his knife going flying as he impacted, Kira pushing the advantage to try and end the fight. Her knees pressed against his right arm and left leg to keep them from reacting, her free arm grabbing onto his other arm to keep it in place. Her knife went to his throat, only for his free leg to flick up and knock the back of her shoulder, knocking her arm to the side so that it missed. Jaeger twisted instantly and moved his shoulder which pressed the knife blade to the ground under his back.

Kira tried to jerk it out from underneath but gave up after a few hard shoves, letting go of the handle in favour of punches. As soon as she let go, Jaeger flicked his arm to the side, causing her arm to slip and for her body to fall slightly. His leg kicked the back of her waist and she fell forward, freeing his other leg from an effective hold. He kicked off with both legs and Kira was shunted off from him, Jaegers hands grasping the hilt of the knife and jumping to his feet in one swift move. Kira had managed to fall into a rough roll and pulled herself up again, turning to face Jaeger with a glint of annoyance.

"Welp, she's gone" Tempest put in, turning off from the fight to walk over and annoy Weiss with Yang who was already harassing the late heiress as she stooped over Demon's laptop. Rosaline and Josh were about to question why until they both simultaneously released that as much as they hated Jaeger, he had superior Pilot training whereas Kira was still just a grunt.

This fact was enforced as Jaeger jumped forward to press his advantage with a weapon. His skills with a blade hadn't seemed to dull after several months of long intervals between practice as the silver sheen flashed left and right at Kira with speeds that were almost blinding. Kira herself was hard-pressed to keep up and couldn't do anything other than dodge to the side each time to avoid losing. She was biding time until she could try and grab onto his arm and break his grip on the knife. His arm was slashing left and right as she tracked the blade with her eyes, seeking an opening that she finally saw appearing every few moments during his attack patterns.

She waited for him to try it again and with lightning quick reflexes she shot her arm out to try and grab onto it as fast as possible. Jaeger, on the other hand, betrayed no emotions when he saw this, instead reacting with insane reflexes and rolling so that his back was to Kira for a brief second, his arm coming out with a lightning fast thrust with his arm to her chest. To her credit, she stopped the arm from coming closer with an iron grip, smirking at her victory until she felt the cold steel pressed to her throat from the knife that he had passed to his other hand while she was distracted.

Kira smirked and nodded, Jaeger dropping the knife and stepping back, offering a hand for her to finally concede her defeat, one which was almost happily accepted by the Grunt.

"Good fight, you had me on the ropes the whole time" Kira conceded, wiping herself off of the soot that she had collected when colliding with the floor, Jaeger subconsciously doing the same as he walked back to pick up his own knife that had been knocked out of his hands.

"Yes, well even with your reasonably efficient fighting method you couldn't have ever hoped to meet my own levels of combat mastery" Jaeger replied, just as stuck up as ever as he made a note to check his hair on his knife blade before putting it back in its sheath. Kira's forehead ticked in annoyance, but she brushed it off realising she probably shouldn't have expected by more from Jaeger.

"Just take it, that's the best you'll get from him" Josh commented as he active the power switch on his gauntlet to perform a quick check over Kira to make sure she wasn't injured.

"You know, I have to ask why exactly do you keep using that when your semblance already heals people?" Jaune commented while sharpening Crocea Mors to the side of the arena. Josh was surprised at the comment and stuttered for a few seconds while trying to come up with a response for him.

"Well, I mean... to be honest I don't know anymore, I need to get refills for the nonobot canisters. My Semblance does drain my own Aura, but it doesn't drain much for minor injuries... I guess it's just habit"

"You have to remember that Aura is like a muscle, the more you use it the better it will become" Jaune commented, smiling wistfully after he said it.

"I'll take that into mind, as for now I'll invest my time in the multi-million-dollar invention that was made redundant by my own soul" Josh mumbled, going over to Kira and preforming to check-up. He stretched out his gauntlet and the grey canisters that lined his forearm drained slightly, glazing over Kira before retracting back to signify that nothing was amiss.

"See, simple and easy, just the way it should be, no stupid soul-magicy BS to deal with" Josh commented again before slipping the gauntlet off. The other were content with milling around as the arena was once again left free and the quiet voice of Yang could be heard annoying Weiss, much to the latter's chagrin.

"So, who's fighting next?" Tempest spoke up, looking around "We could have Jaeger verse Ruby again considering the Author never actually wrote that fight in during the first story"

"I would seriously recommend mental treatment Tempest, this problem of yours is becoming more and more noticeable" Markus replied, only for Tempest to look his way and throw a random book he happened to find lying around. The banter was just about to continue when all of them heard a colossal boom emanating from the front door. The Pilot's and Kira were on it in an instant, drawing weapons and rushing up the stairs to find what it was. Instead of finding the potential assassins each of them were secretly wishing it was (barring Markus of course) they instead found a very pissed of Demon currently trying to re-attach the door to the room which had somehow flown off its top hinge and was only attached with a single screw onto the bottom hinge.

He turned around after hearing their footsteps and growled, his mask already being present to muffle the animalistic sound that came forth without him even realising it.

"One of you take care of this" he grunted, dropping the door and not even seeming to care as it slammed to the ground under its own weight. He stomped down through the living room and right past them without even bother to look at them, going straight to his room and slamming the door behind him, all of them thanking the fact that it only seemed to NEARLY break rather than actually break like they had expected it to.

"What's going on up there?" called Qrow from down in the training area, the mechanical grinding of his sword extending to full length being heard by the Pilot's as they were trying to make sense of what just happened.

"Yeah, we're all good up here, we'll tell you about it in a minute" Josh called back down, flinching as he realised he had just shouted straight into the face of Rosaline who had walked up the stairs to see what the commotion was. The girl herself didn't look too concerned with the fact and didn't even seem to notice, instead choosing to stare intently at the door. Her eyes narrowed and stared at the open space where the door was for a tense few seconds.

"It was him wasn't it..." she almost half whispered, Josh sighing before nodding slightly.

"He looked pissed... and I mean REALLY pissed, I haven't seen him this bad in a while"

"Let me talk to him, I'll see what's up" she said matter-of-factly, already walking off to his room to see what had happened, determination dominating her features rather than the hesitance Josh would expect from anyone who knew how unpredictable a pissed Demon could be.

"I'll keep the others out of your hair, just be sure to check in with us after you've found out what's wrong, we can help too"

Rosaline offered no response other than a nod as she tentatively opened the door to Demon's quarters, stepping in not a moment later and closing the door after her. Josh prayed that she knew what she was doing because he was damned sure that even Demon wouldn't play nice just because it was her. He turned instead back to the door and sighed to himself, holstering his rifle on his back and looking to the others.

"Well, you heard the boss, find me some damned screws and a screwdriver, we need this door fixed ASAP"

 **[Inside Demon's Room]**

As Rosaline closed the door behind herself she only then realised just what she was getting into. Demon was curled up on his bed with his head in his hands and his Aura flaring like crazy. Black smoke was drifting off of him and he was visibly shaking. He was so engrossed in what she was assumed was pain that he hadn't even noticed her enter, her tentative steps taking her closer to him with light padding. As she was stepping forward she took the time to look him over and only now began to notice just how dishevelled he was. Demon's hair had lost its original black sheen and instead was knotted and dry from what she assumed was days of unattendance. His armour hadn't been polished in ages and his odachi's weapon strap was hanging loose over his shoulders without being properly tightened.

She stepped forward and activated her Aura, hoping he wouldn't react negatively and reached forward to drop her hand onto his shoulder. As soon as she made contact, she experienced something that she had never even felt before, a feeling of intense negative emotions that came at her almost like a punch sent straight through his aura into hers. She was shocked into standing as still as a stone and didn't even know how to process this, not noticing the fact that tears were now falling down her face from her unknowing contact with such sadness. She snapped back to reality and found that Demon had grown still under her touch and his Aura had dwindled down to only small wisps of smoke coming through the cracks in his armour.

He still hadn't even acknowledged she was even there and so she chose to move forward and sit down on the bed next to him. Demon crooked his head slightly, but Rosaline couldn't really see any emotions past his mask and so settled with cradling the back of his neck and bringing his head to rest on her shoulder, soothingly rubbing his back while pulsing her Aura to try and calm him down so that she could at least talk to him. Surely enough, his mask began to dissolve and she finally saw the blood red eye that had taken over his normally silver iris. He looked up to her in an almost pleading manner and she could practically see the pain and anger that was eating him from the inside.

She chose to smile and cup the side of his cheek, wrapping her arms around his back and hugging him to make the negative emotions go away the best way she knew how, smiling even harder when she felt him begin to hug back.

"Thank you..." he whispered quietly into her shoulder, his voice rasping and shredded from whatever had caused this.

"Hey, are you alright?" Rosaline asked quietly as well, making sure to not sound too pushy and lose him again to his emotions. Demon didn't respond immediately and instead let the hug break off slowly his breathing slowing down as well until he moved himself back so that they weren't too close together.

"I'm not sure anymore. I suppose I should be used to this weird life but I can't help but run from who I am. Ozpin told me something... something that I'm not too happy about but I don't even know what to think of it anymore. Anger was just what seemed best at the time but all that meant was that I'm running from my problems, but it just felt natural to react that way"

"Was it about that voice in your head you talk to?" she asked innocently, his demeaner freezing for a few moments until he let out deep breaths to bring himself back to normality.

"How did you know?" he asked, almost sounding scared to address the topic as what it truly was, glad that Rosaline didn't want to know the finer details.

"Well, your eye has gone back to how it was... before" she said, Demon's eyes going wide as he searched for the nearest mirror, instead finding Rosaline offering her make-up mirror instead and seeing what the problem was straight away. His right eye had returned to its Grimm state as it was before. Anger flowed through his veins once again, but he quickly shut his eyes and tried to push it out. In response, his Aura flared and Rosaline felt it brush against hers, the anger and pain once again surging through her when they overlapped. She reached out again and placed a hand on his shoulder, pulsing her Aura to quell his and watching as the smoke trickled down to smaller levels again.

His breathing flattened again, and his eyes opened with a new look to them. Sadness. He blinked a few times and Rosaline watched as the glowing red that had originally been there grew less and less prominent until the silver she had seen before occupied his eye again. Demon could almost feel it and he looked down into his palms, clenching them and feeling his claws dig into his palm.

"I don't deserve you..." he muttered to himself, low enough so that Rosaline could tell he was trying to make sure she didn't hear even though her ears picked it up with enough clarity to make out the words. She reached forward and put her arms on both his shoulders, turning him to face her and glaring him straight in the eyes.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop beating yourself up! Drop all the woe is me thinking and find the positives" she ordered, giving him a hard stare until he slowly started nodding in the affirmative.

"Yeah, I guess you're right..." he mumbled, only to watch as she narrowed her eyes even further causing him to word his response a bit better, "You ARE right... ignore what I said before"

"Darn right I am!" she said back, chuckling to herself and finding herself slightly surprised as Demon joined in with a few laughs of his own. It died down after a few seconds and they were silent for a few moments, revelling in the fact that the both of them were rather relaxed given what they were talking about a few moments prior. They both looked up at the same time, expected the other to say something, only to see themselves mirrored in the other, both looking back down with a slight cringe, not sure what to think of the awkwardness. Finally, Demon decided to break the silence and laid his cards on the table.

"There is so much I know I owe you an explanation for, but I really don't know how the hell to handle the crap that Ozpin told me" he explained in a rather matter-of-fact tone, not quite sure how to approach the stuff he was trying to think over himself.

"Well you should probably start with what exactly he told you" Rosaline said after thinking it over, making sure he wouldn't just reject anything she said if she overstepped. Demon looked down for a moment before grasping the gauntlet on his right hand, unclasping it and sliding it off to reveal the wrappings beneath. He slowly began unwrapping the bone white cloth and Rosaline gasped when she saw what was beneath. It would be wrong to call it anything other than an artwork of death. In the centre of his palm was a dark sun that she could practically feel heat radiating from it just by looking at it. From the sun the tattoo-like blackening worked its way up his arm into shapes that were different every single time she looked over them without them actually moving, her eyes making out the shapes of blades, axes, arrows and skulls within the patterns.

The whole thing was a charcoal black that had seeped into the skin like it had always been there, her eyes trying to break from it, only to be drawn back in as she kept finding new things drawing her in. The more she looked the hotter she felt her mind becoming and for some reason an anger that was unexplainable suddenly popped up in the back of her mind, causing her thoughts to break as she tried to think how that had happened. Her eyes finally snapped back to his and she saw he was looking at it himself.

"Every now and then it grows to cover more and more, but it only covers this arm. It's because of him... the voice in my head, I'm sure of it. And Ozpin's sure as well. Worse of all, he's the reason I exist"

"The reason you exist... like, he's your father or something?" Rosaline asked innocently, not quite sure where he was going with this, quickly shooting down her own thinking when he shook his head.

"Ozpin said I'm something called a husk. I'm a body without a soul and so anything can decide to take up residence within my body without me having much say in who or what it is... case in point the fact that I don't even know who the hell I'm meant to be. According to Ozpin, I'm mean to be the son of the daughter of my clan's founder"

Rosaline sat remarkable still and with little reaction given what she had just heard, raising an eyebrow to question, only to rethink as she realised this probably wasn't the craziest thing she'd thought would happen.

"Ok, so in a quick recap, you could be taken over at any minute by this voice in your head, you have no clue who to believe as to who's your actual mother and you have enough crazy stuff going on to realise that anything could be true"

"Yeah, in short I'm just running through an identity crisis" Demon responded, realising just how much she had hit the nail on the head. "Dammit, I never thought family would ever bother me this much... why did all of this have to happen, I'd damn well prefer it to go back the way it was before all this shit"

"Oh really? So, you'd prefer it to go back to when we weren't together?" she asked in a teasing manner, which in all honesty was completely lost on Demon who clammed up as his mouth opened and closed trying to think up a response to that which would explain his point better. It was then that he realised just how bad the point he made was right now and instead just groaned in frustration, resting back on the nearby wall as Rosaline erupted in laughter at his plight.

"Come on, you know that's not what I meant!" he countered, trying desperately to salvage the situation without ruining anything. Alas, he needn't have worried as Rosaline jumped on his and pulled him into a hug.

"Don't worry, you don't need to apologise. But in all seriousness, so what if your parents aren't who you think they are? You are the person you choose to be and don't let anyone else say otherwise. Fight that voice in your head and know that I'll always be here to make sure you stay the same old Hawk that I've always known"

Demon nodded and returned the hug, waiting for her to break off before nodding to thank her and standing up. He re-attached his armour and slung his odachi over his shoulder again.

"Thanks for that. I really don't think I can bare talking to Ozpin for a while before he decides to change any more of the realities of life on me so I'm just heading out to kill some time and some Grimm before dinner" Demon announced, giving her a smile and opening the door, his mask materialising over his head. Rosaline smiled as she congratulated herself to diffuse another one of his situations before an idea struck her just as he was about to close the door.

"Hold on!" she quickly remarked, pulling out her scroll and pulling up a document which she quickly sent off to Demon. He reached down and took out his own scroll, seeing a new message and finding that it was a housing address and name with the message. He turned to look at her and she quickly realised she didn't fill him in on the details. "Qrow's looking for Huntsman to help us out and that's one of the houses that's a bit to far in the outskirts of the city for us to check it out, if you could drop by you'd be a great help.

"No problem, I'll message you if I manage to find them" he replied, putting his scroll back away and making his way back to the door again. This time, it had somehow miraculously been fixed during their conversation with a strangely happy looking Jaeger tending to the final screws on the hinge, giving Demon a cursory glance before going back to his work. Demon walked past him and looked to his scroll's map to get a general idea of where he needed to be, finding the location with a few taps of the search bar. He stepped out of the inn and climbed up the nearest wall with the help of the parkour kit installed in his armour until he was on the top of the inn looking out over the city.

The GPS on his scroll had already been linked with the grid of satellites that he had sent up into orbit thanks to several hundred hours of Vanessa and the Spectre's working tirelessly to develop the devices and the launchers to be able to get them into a suitable orbit. A few well-angled shots from an extremely overcharged Railgun curtesy of a few modifications, they were orbiting Remnant with little to no trouble feeding him geographical positioning and tracking as well as a few other purposes that he thankfully hadn't needed to use them for as of yet.

Now though, he pulled his odachi off his back and flicked it to full length, taking a deep breath and focusing his mind to activate his Semblance, the work around him slowing to a trickle and allowing him to get to his destination in no time at all. During his time-killing journey between Vale and Atlas, Winter had tested the very limits of his Semblance and Aura and he had learned some particularly interesting points. Most prominent of all was that he didn't actually need to have a target for his Semblance to teleport him to a location, only a clear mental image of the target, and he could essentially backtrack to places he had already been if he remembered the path well enough.

Getting away from Ozpin was no different as he simply had to re-trace the route back to their room in his mind and his Semblance took care of the rest. Now, he simply envisioned the open air above the district that he was aiming for and released his breath, feeling the now familiar rush of wind and adrenaline that accompanied his Semblance, finding himself several hundred feet above the ground in the district he wanted. Smiling at another successful trial of his Semblance, he felt gravity begin to take its tole and his body was pulled towards the ground, the jets in his armour flaring slightly to slow the fall, helping him as he slammed into the ground with a loud thud that kicked up a large cloud of dust without doing much else.

The street he was in was filled with rather bleak looking homes that didn't stand out at all and there wasn't anybody to be seen. A few were boarded up and more surprisingly a few bullet holes lined the concrete of the buildings that marked the place as an area less well-known to the law enforcement.

Demon steeled himself and consulted his scroll again, following the directions he was given until he found himself standing outside the house he was seeking. The entire thing was run-down with boarded up windows and the numbers on the letter-box were cracked and faded away, leaving the derelict structure look completely inhospitable. Demon honestly felt sorry for the Huntsman that was stuck living in such a crappy place and decided it was probably best just to get this over and done with. He stepped purposefully up to the door and knocked three times, stepping back to allow someone to come and answer the door. After waiting for a significant amount of time, he knocked again with a tiny bit more force just in case the occupants couldn't hear him.

Again, he was answered with silence. On the third try he battered his fist against the door so that it shook slightly as his patience was wearing thin. Silence replied for the last time and he reached out to knock for the last time, only for the door to finally open and for someone to greet him.

A young man was the only one to answer the door, dressed in rather reasonable clothes compared to what he expected from a place like this, being a sort of grey toga with a belted strap around his waist and a large sword held hesitantly in his grip, thankfully with the pointed tip rested on the ground. He made no move to talk and instead glared at Demon with eyes that seemed to be analysing his every move.

"Ummm, hey there..." Demon began, not quite sure how to go about this "I'm looking for a..." he had to look down at his scroll to check "Emmily Shira? I'm told she lives at this residence"

The man seemed to have something click in his mind and his eyes flickered for a moment, only to return with the same deadpan glare that he had started with, not looking as though he was intent on responding.

"Look pal, I've had a pretty crappy day so have you seen her or not?" Demon snapped, quickly having his patience tested by this guy who he quickly made sure to remind himself had done nothing wrong. The man didn't do anything to respond, instead the next words coming from a different voice, that of a young girl who barely stood up to the man's shins toddling out from behind him with awe in her eyes.

"Daddy? Does he know where mommy is?" she asked innocently, looking up to the man with something Demon could already pin as the tiniest glimmer of hope. He finally realised just how much of a mistake he had made and his heart broke when he saw the sad look in the kid's eyes when his father didn't even bother giving her a response. In that moment, he knew exactly what he had to do.

With a quick flash of dissolution, his mask was gone and he knelt down to the kid's height, looking her in the eyes with a smile.

"Hey kid, do you know where your mom went off to because I'm here to make sure she gets home, you can count of me!"

 **[Bannered Mare Inn]**

With everything going back to normal a few minutes after Demon's spat of entering the room and storming off a few minutes later, it was business as usual. That was, until Oscar busted through the front door with a face red from exhaustion and breathing like he had just run a marathon.

"Where is he?" he managed to splutter out to no one in particular before nearly passing out on the nearby couch, having to catch his breath while Qrow was called over to check on the kid.

"Where's Demon" Oscar asked, Qrow in an urgent tone, "You can't let him leave!"

"That's a no can do, he already left Oz" the ruffled Huntsman responded, not quite sure why he would need to see Demon in such a hurry. Oscar's eyes went wide and a moment later they were replaced with the mint green tone of Ozpin instead of the kid's normal shade. "We must find him immediately before he becomes more dangerous"

"You're not making a lot of sense Oz, what's the kid done that's dangerous to us right now"

"It's what he hasn't done that I'm afraid of, just trust me and find him immediately, it is of the utmost importance"

Qrow sighed heavily and went over to pick up his weapon, not getting far before Weiss' piercing shriek echoed throughout the inn room and he swore to himself before running downstairs to see what had happened. What he found though was the majority of those under his care huddled around Demon's laptop with various faces of shock and awe displayed. He made his way around to get a better angle of the screen and quickly made out a single word on the screen amidst the image... Kalazar. What was playing on the screen... well, that was something he NEVER wanted to have to put into words.


	28. Very Important Indeed

**AHHHHHHHH... finally... some spare time**

 **Tempest: YES, one of the RAREST resources upon our planet! IT'S ALMOST AS IF IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND!**

 **That sarcasm was... refreshing to say the least. Well, people's, as you can see Tempest is back at it with his randomness and so I'm back at it again with the story! As I have said before... life is currently running past me on a German autobahn in a Bugatti while I'm on the side with a crappy broken-wheel scooter grinding the bottom of it on the road.**

 **Tempest: It's almost as if you're doing it on purpose. Like seriously, get a job or something.**

 **Woah, calm down and stop acting like my mother. Well, funnily enough I have a PROPER excuse this time in that I was travelling to Melbourne to perform in a music festival over the past week and weekend and so I haven't had any time work on this proper, but alas I made sure to finish it as soon as possible to get it done! I've been busy dooting away on me musicy stuff and being a beast mode bass in a Barbershop Quartet and kicking ass compared to the other ensembles that were there.**

 **Tempest: I'm insulted you didn't bring me along! I would have loved to have been there and watched your performance...**

 **I'm sensing that's not everything**

 **Tempest: and to heckle you at the end of course and laugh whenever you can't find your note because you're a horrible singer!**

 **And there it is... well, besides from what he's saying it went rather well and I got to have a kick-ass solo in one of our songs with my friend and we nailed that thing harder than 18th Century Industrial Revolution workers. BUT, I'm sure you're already bored hearing about my life so I have to give a quick thank you to the guy who contacted me on XBOX and for the nice comment he left me, if you don't already know I am an XBOX peasant and cannot afford to switch to the PC Master Race as of yet (and my friends would kill me) so check my profile thing and I might be able to play some games with you. As for the chapter... well, I've given up with this ending bit so I'll let Tempest take it away**

 **Tempest: AND ONTO THE NEXT CHAPTER WE GO! DEUS VULT!**

 **Naughtbeast**

Drinking coffee. It was a habit that one developed usually when one's life was stressful. When the calm release of caffeine and scolding hot liquid would let one forget about the troubles of life, bringing focus to an often-troubled mind. For Gremlin however, he could not get enough of the stuff and after his twelfth cup, he could tell he was going to need a hell of a lot more.

"What do you mean the deck 47's systems aren't working, they were perfect a minute ago!" he yelled into a nearby commlink as he sat in the central seat of a bustling command bridge of the _Silent Prayer_ , several technicians and officers working their way around without much grace as red warning lights were strobing on and off, a result of the unfortunate warp that the ship had undertaken to escape a rather untimely nuclear detonation. Solid metal blast doors were shuttering in the view of the outside space in which the ship was and most of the systems he had were either unresponsive or broken, something he found out when he saw that the locational coordinates just read several zeros. He was silent for a few moments as a reply was spoken from the other end and a grimace found its way to his features.

"Dammit, I don't care if you can't work without a large enough power input, the damned reactor isn't working so DEAL WITH IT!" he roared, pressing the disconnect button as he began to massage his forehead in hopes of alleviating the constant headache he had seemed to acquire from dealing with everything after the warp jump. He reached down and took up his coffee mug, swinging it back for a drink and scowling when he realised there was none left.

"Can someone get me some damned coffee!" he shouted over the chaos of the room, hoping someone had heard him, going back to scanning the frequencies of on-board communications to tend to any urgent calls. Luckily, his staff was more than accustomed to strange requests and few inquiries were sent his way, usually when they feared that not consulting him would result in a rather rage-induced tongue lashing.

"Comm line 4, for you Sir!" shouted one of his technicians, Gremlin nodding as he patched it through and focused intently to hear it over the other noise.

"Name and Rank" Gremlin spoke through his microphone, a standard operating procedure during these times as he didn't want to be yelling at his cleaning staff wondering why they couldn't tell him why his fighters weren't launching.

"This is Technician Staff Class Two Feridan, this is in response to your SITREP order sent via messenger?" answered a timid voice on the other end, obviously not expecting the vast levels of anger he could practically hear through the speaker. It clicked for Gremlin and he remembered that the comms throughout engineering had been fried when the warp drives were fired and he had to send a messenger from his bridge to get a mobile comms unit down there or require it so he could get a clear report of what had happened with the warp drive.

"Finally, someone managed to get the damned comms down there. Now, what the hell happened with the warp drives, I heard that they were in the process of upgrades, but I didn't expect them to fry everything!"

The technician on the other end was silent for a moment due to what he assumed was the lag between their devices.

"From what we can gather, there was a severe flux in the energy being delivered to the device that was fed back through the ship's systems to avoid an overload. It's out of commission as of right now until we can source enough power to run our diagnostics to deem it safe and get a team to analyse the damage. The engineer that was overseeing the upgrades is in the process of repairing it now"

"Who's the guy who's responsible for these 'upgrades', get them on the line so I can know exactly what the hell they've done"

"Well, his name is apparently... Ellis Wilkins? That doesn't seem right, he isn't registered in the crew logs"

Gremlin scowled as he briefly considered that they had been infiltrated and sabotaged until he remembered something from the last time they were docked at a Militia port.

"Hold on, get him on the line while I check with something"

Gremlin put the line on hold and beckoned over one of the bustling 'interns' as he called them, quickly telling him to pull up the service records so that he could alleviate his fears. Within a minute, the man was back with a large folder and Gremlin took no time in flipping through the files until he came across the last maintenance log. Apparently, as he had remembered earlier, the _Silent Prayer_ had been put up by Militia command to facilitate experimental warp drive upgrades due to the fact they weren't scheduled for any major raids within the time it would take to install them. Of course, thanks to their discoveries on Project Looking Glass and the more than ramshackle raid on the IMC base, the upgrades weren't fully installed, and he had paid the price.

"Dammit..." he muttered to himself, shutting the log and putting it next to his chair for someone else to eventually notice and put away while he had more important things to do. His fingers hovered over the comms line while he composed himself, refusing to get any more stressed or annoyed in a situation that only seemed to be getting worse. It eventually fell and he was patched back through to the reactor crew.

"Wilkins, you there?" he asked, not bothering with formalities as of yet as he just focused on fixing the stuff he had started.

"This is he" replied a strangely cheerful voice from the other side, breaking the normally slightly formal tone his soldiers and technicians used.

"Good, now give me a SITREP, the hell did you do to my warp drives and more importantly, how long are we not going to have power?"

"Oh, sorry Sir, I did send a full two-hundred-page report to your inbox for you to look over, but in short I simply was implementing an experimental warp drive schematic approved by Militia Fleet Command into your ship that utilises a secondary overcharge function to quarter the charge time of the warp drive for an extremely fast jump consecutively for quick escapes during combat. Although, it does appear that even the overcharge function was put into flux during our last jump and to avoid the drive malfunctioning it was fed back to the reactor and seemed then just sent the energy back through to the electronics. I'm not exactly familiar with the designs but they should be able to derive everything from the schematics"

Gremlin swore when he did check his inbox and find that there WAS a 200-page email that was sent through to him a few days ago, which he of course decided to move to the spam folder because he couldn't be damned to read it.

"That's great to know but spare me the jargon, do you know when we can get it back online for a fast trip back to Harmony?"

"Well, from what I can gather from non-electronic assessment it has collapsed back into its cryo stage which means there is still a lot of residual energy around the drive which is preventing it from spinning up in fear of detonating and destroying the ship"

"Well that's just dandy... wait, can you reroute that residual power back to the reactor to get it back online?"

"In theory yes, but I'd need some time to procure the necessary materials and get in touch with the Reactor team so that they know what I'm doing"

"Good to hear, I'm sending a security team to escort you around the ship and you have full permission to gather any materials you require so long as it doesn't stuff up any one else's work, I don't have a direct line to the Reactor crew so just do what you think is best and don't bother calling for me unless it's urgent"

"On it!" cheered the voice again before the line cut, Gremlin sighing as another wrench was thrown into the works. His patience had been worn thin as his crew were struggling to both recover from the hot-zone extraction from the planet and get the ship back in working order after everything was fried from the jump. After another minute or two, he had organised one of his new squads to guard duty for this Harris guy and was left once again to his own thoughts, the quiet tapping of his fingers on his armrest providing little comfort at a time like this.

"Where the bloody hell is my coffee!" he shouted once again, pissed off that no one had gotten it for him by now but knew it was most likely because none of them had time. Luckily, someone had heard him and a cup of scolding hot coffee, complete with a little marshmallow that was already melting in the liquid, was placed onto a nearby tray that was near his chair. He was just about to snap at whoever had taken so long to get the coffee until he turned to see his wife, Memphis, giving him a hard glare as she had already guessed what he was going to do. He clamped his mouth shut and nodded his head in thanks, hoping that he wouldn't be scolded in turn as he quickly just picked up the coffee and got to drinking it quickly to avoid such tongue lashing.

"To your liking darling?" she asked in a sweet voice, his head quickly nodding up and down as a savage smile came to her face. "Good, because for a second there I thought you were going to complain!"

"No complaints here!" he quickly responded in a higher than normal voice, happy that the rest of the crew were too preoccupied with their duties to mock him. She finally settled into a genuine smile and sat down on his lap, resting her head on his shoulder so as to sooth him, a sigh of content making its way from his mouth as he finally had a chance to relax.

"How's everything going?" she asked, stealing his mug of coffee so that he couldn't drink from it to avoid the question. He huffed slightly at having his stress-relief removed but decided it was probably for the better because there wasn't any way of saying no to this woman that didn't end in a headache and a boot in the ass.

"Pretty shit actually, there's no damned way of figuring out where we are, we don't have any chance of visual confirmation because of the blast doors. Half of our short-range comms systems aren't working and to make matters worse I have a bunch of angry IMC personnel sitting in the hanger which are stopping me from getting a debrief from my men because I can't spare anyone else to look after them!"

She hummed to herself and gave back his coffee, spending a moment to brush her hair out of her eyes and mull over the situation. She couldn't really think of anything her husband hadn't already heard and so just settled with closing her eyes and trying to doze off, knowing she would be woken when needed and after the strange happenings when trying to find Demon.

"Damn, this place looks busy, is this a bad time?" spoke a new voice which Gremlin was only barely able to pick up. His head craned around, and his eyes narrowed when he saw who it was. Standing in the doorway with a more than up-himself smirk was the IMC Pilot that Gremlin had fought with while extracting.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!" roared Gremlin, carefully moving from underneath his wife and storming up to the Pilot, wondering how in the world he had managed to get past the guard detail he had set up and somehow get to the bridge without trouble.

"Hey relax buddy, I'm here to help so cool off!" responded Ryan, leaning against the wall and tilting his head to try and get a better look at what some of the technicians were doing as they were running around the bridge. Gremlin grabbed him by the shoulders and escorted him outside to the nearby hallway, being EVEN more annoyed to see three other people wearing IMC outfits standing in the corridor. His anger was slightly stopped from boiling over as he thankfully realised that there was in fact Militia soldiers behind them with their weapons at the ready, people he assumed had escorted them here.

"You have twenty seconds to explain yourself before I blow your head off" Gremlin threatened, taking out his Wingman Elite and putting it against the Pilot's temple, cocking back the hammer to emphasize the threat. To his credit, Ryan wasn't phased as much as one would be expected after being held at gunpoint and responded relatively easily.

"These three scientists here can help out your little reactor problems and warp drive woes, for a small price of course they can be yours!" he said almost comically, Gremlin's scowl deepening.

"You come here to offer assistance on MY ship after I save you out of the own grace of my heart and you greedy arseholes still ask for money! How low are you!"

"I'm wounded that you would think so lowly of me!" joked Ryan, adding a smirk to his visage to mock the Militia commander even further "I have no need of money! I simply want to get the hell out of here, so I'm not stuck on a Militia ship soon to be executed"

"Executed? We're not savages! You'll be dropped off to the nearest Militia prison colony as soon as we get power back, I don't want you here as much as you don't want to be here!"

"Woah, so you mean you're not going to drop us into your incinerators while we're still alive or force us to eat burning hot bullet casings?" he asked in an almost confused tone, Gremlin actually taking a step back when he realised that the kid was being serious.

"Where the hell have you been hearing this? We abide by the conventions of the Third Geneva Laws of War, so that means we unfortunately don't get to steal all your clothes or play grenade tennis and we have to treat you decently"

Ryan raised an eyebrow and looked around at the ship, seeing the markings that he expected to see just above the main command centre.

"Ok, just humour me and tell me what that says" asked the IMC Pilot, pointing to the sign as Gremlin became more and more confused.

"56th Legion Command Centre?"

"56th right? As in Hell's Legion? The famed acolytes of Demon? The best Pilot on the frontier?"

"As much as I appreciate the praise I really don't understand where this is going"

"Well where's all the torture, the demonic effigy's everywhere and the whole 'no prisoners' attitude that you guys are about?"

"Listen here boy, we take prisoners when we can, we follow the damned rules and we are FAIR people who are fighting for our own freedom! Shove whatever those recruiters for your damnable IMC spat at you about us, we are not terrorists and we are fighting for what is RIGHT" Gremlin barked at him, glaring down at him to make sure he got the message, Ryan having to step back so that he was out of punching range of the Captain, lest he let his rage get the best of him.

"Ok, alright! Calm down, I'm the acting commander here and I have no clue how the hell to act the part, it's been a rather literal crash course"

"You're the acting commander? Who the hell did those beasts have to kill to make YOU the acting commander?"

"Not many to be honest, those idiots haven't even bothered to stop by to check on our outpost in months! We had our head of office, but no one cried when he got crushed by a falling pole, so they shoved me to lead the forces and no one else has bothered to pull rank as of yet"

"Excellent, it just had to be the most unbearable asshole you had"

"I'll take that as a compliment!" Ryan smirked, only serving to irk Gremlin further as his eyebrow ticked in annoyance.

"Look, you will be treated well, you won't be executed so get the hell out of my way so we can get you gone ASAP"

With those words, Gremlin turned to move back to his command centre, frustrated with the fact he probable fact that he had a backlog of calls being patched through to his console to sift through. He strode back as enraged as ever and only gave a small cursory glance back to the IMC crew that were thankfully being escorted back to the ships docking bay. Unfortunately, however, that was when he saw something that was infinitely more important than getting the ship back in working order.

"Hold up!" he shouted, swiftly turning around to track down the IMC as Ryan seemed to grin in response with witty comeback at the ready.

"Oh, finally considering taking us up on the offer? These scientists are top notch!" he drawled, Gremlin eyeing him with a narrow glare.

"No, certainly not with those remotely detonated explosive in their pockets" Gremlin replied nonchalantly, causing Ryan's eyes to widen in fear and for the scientists themselves to tense up on panic. "Don't worry though, as I said before I won't kill you... as of yet. But, I am however interested in why you were out there on that planet"

"That's classified" the 'head' scientist replied, stepping forward with slightly less fear evident on his features. Gremlin looked him in the eyes and sighed, motioning to one of the nearby Militia grunts. They raised their rifle and fired a single shot, a neat bullet hole appearing in the wall right near where the scientist was. He blanched pale from fear and his mouth was struggling to articulate any words.

"A-a-a- top secret IMC project!" he said, not giving any more information other than that. Gremlin made to motion again to the nearby grunt, but thankfully, one of the scientists behind him stood up and spoke for him.

"It's called Project Looking Glass, it's nothing that you'd be interested in and we've barely made any headway. We're focused on analysing a strange anomaly within the space around the planet we were stationed on but there really isn't anything that you'd be interested in"

The scientists weren't exactly sure what response they would have expected from him but they certainly would never had guessed that the next thing Gremlin chose to do was contort his features into a sick grin, a small laugh being barely audible above the din of the spaceship's other occupants.

"Oh, now isn't that just wonderful... congratulations Ryan, you and your crew have now become valuable... very valuable indeed"

 **[The Bannered Mare Inn – Room 273]**

Silence. That was the only sound (forgive the hypocrisy) that permeated within the room. Originally, there had been sound coming from the laptop that now sat dormant on the floor within the sparring room, but that had been switched off a long time ago. It was a tense atmosphere, none of the occupants willing or wanting to break it in fear of having to think of what they had seen. Qrow was by far the least affected and even then, that was mainly because he was chugging down gulp after gulp of alcohol, his eyes still wide from what he had seen.

The younger of those present, most prominently Ruby, Oscar, Jaune and Rosaline had long ago emptied their stomachs of its contents with what they had seen and were being cradled by members of their teams to stop them full-on melting down. The reason? The no-holds-barred violence and gore that had been displayed during the video that had shown everything from people being skewered on rebar in broken concrete to soldiers having their heads ripped off and guts spilling to the floor. In short, nothing any of them were at all prepared for. The others, while not at the point of emptying stomachs, were definitely beyond disturbed. Most had experienced or had seen death during their lives, so they were by now at least accepting of the concept, but the way in which it had occurred was brutal even for them.

The most disturbing fact though, was that none of them knew WHAT was being shown during the video. It was almost a first-person perspective of whatever was performing what they could all agree was basically an hour-long genocide, which they thankfully had the decency to turn off before it had gotten any further into showing the undoubtable atrocities that were to come. Weiss had turned a shade far paler than her original complexion, but the strange thing was most of the others present were almost on par as well, which wasn't surprising given the circumstances.

"What... was that" Yang managed to mumble out past a sickly grimace, shaking her head to rid her mind of the thoughts that were remembering what she had seen, refusing to go through with that again. No real reply to the comment was made as that was what everyone was thinking at the current moment and few minds were bothering to devote any actual processing power to figuring out what they were looking at.

Oscar himself was almost as green as the aura that Ozpin's aura, coincidentally turning even further so when the Headmaster himself took control of the body to address the students, his tone sounding as solemn as ever.

"Have any of you noticed Hawk acting differently, more violent than usual or having small lapses in judgement that would seem out of the norm?" Ozpin asked, looking around at the assembled few to see if any would give him an answer. Slowly, Weiss looked up and began speaking in a quiet voice.

"He has been a lot more... angry. He seems to be set off a lot quicker than normal and doesn't exactly stay in a... shall we say reasonable state of mind while he is fighting"

"It is worse than I could have feared, young Mr Branwen is in a danger beyond anything I could have imagined taking place. Now I understand why he was so adamant on keeping the soul" Ozpin muttered as though he was in a library, but it as still loud enough to cut through the silence.

"How... when..." Ruby muttered, closing her eyes and covering them with her palms to try and erase the memories.

"Kalazar, I have heard that name before" Josh said almost to himself, his eyes bulging when he finally realised. "No, Ozpin you can't be serious..."

"I'm afraid so Mr Dakkery, Hawk is currently playing... host, to that... thing. I am hesitant to tell you anything more, but it is imperative that we find him so that it does not break free again"

"Goddamn it author, I thought you'd made your *cough cough* totally not self-insert OC overpowered by having connections with bird-mum, but NOOOO, you couldn't help yourself and you just shoved an even more overpowered 'reason' for his godliness in there! I swear this is turning into Fairy Tail all over again!" Tempest lamented... before summarily having to dodge out of the way as Yang decided to empty the contents of her stomach onto his lap. The Pilot, of course, decided it would be a brilliant idea to NOT mess with the omnipotent author of his story during the annoying sections of explaining plot.

"Is that what was at the festival? The giant shadow you told us to watch out for" Kira intoned, ignoring what had happened with Tempest as he was desperately trying to comfort Yang while simultaneously trying to avoid her 'presents'. The others quickly focusing on that thought so as to take their minds of the current subject at hand and NOT remember the death-dealing carnage that they had witnessed.

"That would be correct, you see, your friend appears to be pseudo-possessed by a spirit that is using him as a host. The festival was the first time that I had suspected it of him but there were several other theories that were possible to explain the phenomenon, but as I said before this is by far the worst outcome"

"So, we just need to find him, and we can get this 'thing' out of him?" asked Yang, now thanking the fact that she wasn't thinking about the video... until she cursed herself when THAT thought brought her back to it again.

"I am versed in the art of exorcism and so I do believe I should be able to free him from it by tomorrow at the latest. Please, this must take precedence if we are to proceed any further, finding the Spring Maiden can wait"

"You're sure about this Oz?" Qrow questioned, finally having finished his flask and was tapping on the lid in discomfort, unable to drown his worries with his usual anymore.

"Certain. As much threat as Salem and her faction pose to us, this is far more immediate. Though they may be making a move to attack Mistral, there won't be a Mistral to protect if he is let loose"

"Understood, I'll contact the two Huntsmen we already have helping us and give them a new task, they shouldn't have too much of a problem tracking him down"

"What should we do?" asked Blake, unsure of exactly what Ozpin wanted them to do considering she did not EVER want to meet the thing that made that video. She very much enjoyed living at the current moment.

"Yes, well, that is the problem at hand. As you can gather, the entity is EXTREMELY dangerous and so I highly advise against every facing it without back-up, so I to cover the most ground you should all split up and search for him with your partner" Ozpin announced, quickly realizing just what he had alluded to when Jaune looked at the ground and was just about to speak up, "Mr Arc and I shall go together as Oscar is of similar endurance to yourself while I do believe Ms Sentetar shall be able to provide a much larger search area with her Semblance. But, I must all warn you this... he will not be the person you know. If he shows even the slightest bit of hostilities you are authorised to use as much force as necessary to... subdue him"

They all nodded to the plan, albeit with a tiny amount of hesitance given his parting words and set off to their rooms to collect their equipment, leaving Ozpin and Qrow to themselves in the training area.

"So, Ozpin, mind telling me what's been holed up in my nephew?" Qrow intoned, checking the mechanisms on his massive buster sword as the clock-work gears spun to begin the shifting process. He didn't extend it the whole way as when the blade began to bend back around, he caught a glimpse of a reflection on the sheen of his blade, looking behind himself to see Rosaline peeking her head around the corner, seemingly listening in on their conversation. She flinched when she realised Qrow had caught on and stepped out to face the two of them, her outfit already consisting of her normal battle-gear, the half-mask she wore latched on to her hip with a few clips in place.

"Is there something you wished to discuss?" Ozpin asked, already guessing what she would say before she said anything, although he was genuinely surprised with what she posed.

"During the conversation you said if 'he' is let loose... you weren't talking about Hawk were you..." she said, asking in a hushed tone at a level as though she almost didn't want to hear the answer. Ozpin looked to Qrow who also seemed very interested in the topic.

"That would be correct Ms Sentetar, you could say I am... quite well acquainted with just what is inside his body. Put simply, the beast is a Shinigami, a god of death in the old legends and quite aptly named... while I may lay claim to being far older than what may appear, his life span is trumped by none other than this planet itself and a few others like himself. Salem herself is probably the only greater threat to our existence and with someone like Mr Hawk as his host, his powers can only grow. Without his physical form I can only assume that he has been biding his time and building power and that is what I am most fearful for. His power at his peak would pale in comparison with what he could accomplish with a Husk, making our missing even more pressing"

"A Husk?" Rosaline intoned, not quite sure if she was missing out on some Remnant terminology she was unfamiliar with.

"Quite so, I'm afraid this may be news to you as well Mr Branwen. You see, a Husk, for all intents and purposes, is an empty shell left in which souls can transpire through. The young Mr Branwen is not as he appears in the slightest. His very existence is to be nothing more than a vessel for others of power and his personality is reminiscent of that. He is not, for all intents, the son of your sister Qrow, he is the grandson of your family's founder, a man by the name of Phoenix Banwen"

Both Qrow and Rosaline had wide eyes open at the explanation although only one of the looks was genuine. Rosaline had already heard all this from Demon and so wasn't too phased, but to have the headmaster explain it in such a matter of fact tone, she could finally understand why Demon didn't want to be there. As much as she hated to think it, the Headmaster didn't at all sound like he cared... to some degree anyway. If that was to happen to her, well she couldn't blame Demon for running.

"Damn Oz, you really know how to lay it on..." Qrow remarked, lost for any other words, "Are you sure you should have told him? I mean, even I'd be at least a bit pissed about it but telling that to guy who's not even out of his teens probably wasn't the best idea"

"He needed to know Qrow, it's not something that people would take kindly to being left in the dark about"

"As much as I'd like to agree with you, he's not exactly the most emotionally stable person. I can tell you Oz, the army changes people and from what Hawk's said he's seen a hell of a lot more than even I can boast about and you don't just walk out of that unchanged. You should know that more than anyone... you drop those kinds of bombs and shit gets messed up"

Rosaline, all the while was finally making the connections that she had been failing to make insofar. She finally realised what was happening. Everything started to make sense. He had known about this for a long time. It had already taken control of him and he had always spoken like it was something else... like every one of his problems was stemming straight from that being.

And now he was being told that it was just as much a part of him as he was. That's what he meant when he said he was having an identity crisis... it wasn't so much as who was his real family... no, it was who HE himself was in reality. The Hawk he had always known... or was everything just controlled by this Grimm inside of him.

She swore internally and quietly began to walk for the exit, wanting to end the conversation as fast as possible. Unfortunately, however, Ozpin caught on to it as fast as he could and quickly realised what she was doing.

"Miss Sentetar, did Demon tell you where he was going at all? Anything we could use to be able to find him quicker?"

Rosaline stopped in her tracks at the edge of the room, her boot already resting on the first stair that led up to the next floor, to safety from the two in the room behind her. She didn't look back, refusing to let them see the conflicting emotions that were crossing her features right now as she was trying to figure out what the right thing to do was. They were right... Demon did need help. But... it wasn't any help they could give him.

"Sorry Sir, I have no clue!" she stated back, not bothering to look behind to address them properly.

But... she knew exactly where she would be going. And there was no way he would let Ozpin get near him before she had her chance at saving her boyfriend.

 **[Forests of Mistral]**

A slash of red and a burst of flame signalled the death of another beowolf under the blade of the odachi. The owner, now currently occupied with trying to track down a rather specific target, wasn't in any mood to be dealing with such annoyances. Sure, there was a few Ursai scattered throughout the forest but they fell just as quickly to a few well-placed shots from _Law and Order_ , yet he could quite easily tell that this wasn't nearly enough Grimm as were to be expected in these parts. That was mostly due to the fact that he had taken the liberty of questioning the farmers about what to expect and this didn't fit the bill. Sure, there were beowolves but not the 'deathly hordes' that most described to have been wandering around the areas.

As much as a tracker as he was though, meaning little at all, he had no doubt that they were telling the truth considering the practical tide of claw marks that he was having to follow through the forest along his way to find the Huntress. She had been... particularly difficult to get a bead on considering that she didn't have a specific mission and had opted for a rather simple Search and Destroy mission, nothing that had a set target and furthermore h had to find the nest that SHE was supposed to find just to find her... needless to say, the scratches he found were probably the best bet he had at finding her with any semblance of speed.

As it turned out, her Husband had been particularly irate at bringing up the topic of her mission considering it was meant to finish a good month ago and both of them knew what that most likely meant, however the child had been more than happy to cooperate considering how 'lost' her mother had become and so he had managed to coerce enough details out of her to be able to figure out which mission she had accepted.

The rest had been fairly straight-forward, find some info and then try and do the mission himself. If he didn't find anything then he could at least put the man's mind at rest about the 'maybe's' that were floating around, and he would have far less pent-up anger floating around to make it so that he could at least have some form of decent cognitive functions running to finish his decision making on his master plan. Ah yes, now that was definitely something he refused to work on without a clear mind. It required far too many factors for his liking and far too many unknowns.

Two of which he had never met in person, which he never liked, but he was placing a hell of a lot of faith in them for what he wanted to accomplish and that was putting it lightly. If they were at all questioning anything he was doing he wouldn't have reasonable answers for them and that would be severely problematic. It was as he had always did during his time navigating the Militia hierarchy, giving complete truths but never giving the whole truth so that they would never be able to grill him for omitting 'seemingly' irrelevant information which of course meant a whole lot more than he let on.

He always had to play the idiot out of all of them, which always was a pain. Because he was so young they never expected anything and no matter if he suggested the most tactfully sound approach to a situation they would shoot it down purely because he was 'inexperienced' no matter if they were going to suggest it moments later. That was why he had to learn quickly to never let on everything that you were thinking, because that's when the real problems would arrive. And he had learnt it from the best mentor he possibly could, his old Legion Commander that he had informed Winter about... the one man that he could truly have seen as a father figure.

It brought a pang of sadness to his soul as he remembered just how torn he had been between killing him or simply letting him have his way. He could see the conflicted thoughts in the man's eyes as he was desperately trying to kill Demon with as much effort as was physically possible for him. Of course, his logical thinking had won out and he realised that as much as he wished the man to return to normal it would never happen and not pulling the trigger would sign away the deaths of the hundreds of crew aboard the ship and the rest... well, he never wanted to have to re-live those moments.

Alas, it did bring some positives and the most prominent was his rise to Captaincy within the Naval Ranking and to a Pilot within the Army. The man had left in his will that his position be given to Demon in any event of his death and after the report given to Militia High Command they couldn't argue with their most respected Captain about anything and so it was followed through with.

Which led to what he was doing now, having to work his way once again through the political holes to try and coerce four factions at almost complete odds to work together towards a common goal which would be better for all of them. If he told them the end goal... well, he knew all but one of them would immediately end the contract, but he held to the faith that in the end they would come through to some degree and so for now he had to give them all different plans within Project Chimera.

Of course, the White Fang were the hardest to convince. Sienna had been a skilled negotiator and he had expected nothing less but the terms he had accepted were... less than favourable. Jeeves as it seemed would be his liaison between the two which was probably the best part of the deal, the unfortunate part though would be what he had to give the White Fang. The blueprints for his Titan were a closely guarded secret considering just how dangerous they could be when in the wrong hands and so when Sienna had asked for the schematics of Jeeves he was far from willing to agree to the terms.

Although, after much... deliberation, he had realised how he could in fact twist this into his favour. The Alpha series Atlas class Titan was the model down from what Jeeves was built from and was filled with contingencies and programs that made it built almost solely for agriculture and building purposes with little combat capabilities other than being able to carry around a pole as a club. He had, of course, unfortunately had to inform Sienna as to its exact capabilities which lead to the next part of the deal he was unhappy about... they would have access to the Betty AI.

The AI was and still is a precarious thing. Sure, it was a baseline model that was streamlined almost completely for the majority of Militia interfaces but that as for the newer generation machines. The Pre-Beta model Titans were a completely new area and he had honestly no clue what would happen if the AI were to connect with the old designs. This of course didn't seem to affect the faunus and she had agreed to the terms without fail, almost smirking as he agreed to give them an AI program.

What he gained though, was thankfully on par with what he had hoped to fully pull from their 'friendship'. The White Fang were now cooperating with him on a much higher level than what he had originally hoped for. She had agreed to enact the cease-fire in the entirety of Vale and even extended it to Mistral under the words of wanting to 'weed out the traitors' and had even dispatched a White Fang detachment from Mistral to meet with him and discuss more terms in person at a later date. The best part though, was that he had stuck his foot in the door for his next step involving a very familiar cat-faunus... but that was for another time.

The Belladonnas... well, they were interesting. Menagerie for him was just as disgusting as he imagined it was and was horrified to think of how the faunus viewed it, not as the 'refuge' from humanity that the governments marketed it to be but fit the definition to the letter of what a menagerie should be... a place for storing 'exotic' animals. He could sympathise with their situation and so his deal with them wasn't as aggressive as it was with the White Fang leader, but it was still there. They would only provide support... and for them he would make sure they would find a place within the world that wasn't reduced to being animals to look at behind bars.

His mother on the other hand, now that was an interesting conversation. He had thankfully kept Yang from full on exploding during the conversation and managed to finish the deal. His mother's clan was... far better equipped than he had assumed, and he was impressed with the numbers that she apparently had under her command. Their armaments were as he expected, a rag-tag collection of sub-par weaponry with what they can scrounge together and so he had given her the schematics for his Dust-Carbine and redirected a few shipments off towards a marked location for her to pick up. With a more familial deal, she had said she had an 'asset' that she could utilise whenever he needed, and he would be able to call in a favour whenever he needed considering he didn't really want to begin 'negotiating' with his mother for a fair trade considering it would be a completely one-sided argument... not in his favour.

Either way, he had her support for his project and that was all he needed. And then finally was David. He had met him in the sort of 'friend of a friend' situation thanks to the strange half-Grimm who had came to them in their inn room. He had chased after him when the boy decided to run off, deciding that keeping him quite about his less-than-human nature would be optimal. They had... talked, which mostly involved a pseudo interrogation on the part of Demon until he had found enough out about the man to get his bearings on what was happening.

Which led him to a rather interesting Atlesian science experiment called Project Gorgon led by a rather interesting man by the name of Merlot. The specifics weren't exactly... legal to say the least and the gist was that Atlas was trying to fuze Grimm with humans to create humans that wouldn't be targeted by Grimm, but as was expected they didn't get far. That was when the head scientist decided to cut his ties with the Atlesian military and began introducing more aggressive testing methods. Most notably, kidnapping orphaned children and conducting experiments on them, the usual mad-scientisty stuff.

Thankfully, the Atlesian military had decided to do something for once and so they sent out a force which managed to successfully neutralise and destroy his entire lab and freed the subjects. Unfortunately for the children, though, the experiments had worked to some degree. For years they were normal until eventually, they all began displaying Grimm-like mutations that got them alienated from society. The government was one step away from sending in soldiers to eradicate them for 'the concern of the general public' but the eldest among them had stood up and organised for them all to move themselves away from the major populace to make sure they survived.

They had developed their own society and David had risen as leader. The half-Grimm that he had met was known as Byor and strangely he had developed Grimm powers without the testing being performed on him which is why he had connections and could organise a meeting with David for Demon. David, as it had turned out, was by far the most Grimm-like of the children altered during the experimentation and so was well-versed in the societal inklings on the Grimm as a species. The most apparent reason though was the innate ability to discern large sources of Grimm energy and when he had felt Demon he had dispatched Byor to find him and organise a meeting.

After conversing for the first time in person after he had miraculously appeared just outside the forests of the Grimm they began discussing the situation. As it had turned out, Demon was recognised as a natural Alpha and had explained to the leader just what kind of situation he was in. He had been informed in lighter terms of what the voice in his head was, a Grimm of the highest power that was within his mind but that was something he had guessed before. Back before he still thought that they were separate entities.

Their faction, which hadn't really received an official name was simply called the Grimm-born and they weren't considering changing it any time soon, but thankfully, after their meeting... it was looking as though Project Chimera would be their new banner. Grimm-integration would become a hell of a lot easier with half-Grimm to ease the transition but to be honest he still didn't know the length of the negative stigma that the people on this planet viewed the Grimm as.

Aside from that... the plans were moving ahead at an excellent pace. He was moving closer to uniting this world and fixing their damned problems and he felt gratification at that fact.

With that, though, his thoughts were pulled back to reality and another Beowolf was sliced in half with his odachi, the burning fire of the blade searing through it like butter. He purged the thoughts again and began walking forward with renewed vigour. He could hear the growls and the sharp sounds of flesh rending from up ahead and cursed himself for not being as attentive as possible. With a quick push off, he began running forward to find the source... unaware of the three sets of eyes observing him from afar.

The first set was from a pair that were observing from several hundreds of metres away, the calm and emotionless eyes of a Grimm staring straight at the armoured figure running through the tree line. Its paws moved purposely, and its jaws twisted into a grin, the guttural sound of what could be confused for laughter emanating from its gut as it began to slowly paw forward, stalking its prey with new intent, claws carving gouges in the forest floor.

The other two sets were observing from a tree not too far off from where Demon last was seen, their faces hidden behind masks of varying designs, the first wearing nothing more than a glass visored helmet with a skull engraved in the tinted material while the other was more reminiscent of an ancient knight of old, having a T visor and breathing holes in the bottom with which heavy breathing could be vaguely heard from behind. Two swords were strapped to the first's back, a light pulsing of sparkling blue emanating from the blade's edge that illuminated the dark accents of the armoured carapace he wore that coated his body in black body armour.

The other could be seen contrasting the normal green of the forest with a tinted red armour that looked both sleek and bulky at the same time, large pauldrons and armour pieces imposed over a bulky figure that you could tell was strong just from the shape. A massive mace was strapped over his back through a bandolier of eight-gauge shotgun shells that were perfectly fitted to a receiver on the weapon.

The first reached up to his helmet and pressed a button on the side, seemingly nodding to himself after seconds of silence after the action, only to turn to his accomplice with a dry voice muffled through the material of his mask.

"Well, the boss man isn't pulling any stops out this time... we're bringing the guy back in a body bag"


	29. The World Serpent

**URRRGGGGGGGG... my life is pain**

 **Tempest: What's with Mr Angsty over here, run out of black eyeliner or something?**

 **You really are annoying sometimes. I'm barely getting any sleep over three hours and I haven't been thinking properly in weeks. Besides that however, I have another chapter here for ye devout fans who still read this fanfiction with an absolutely wonderful update schedule... It's barely been over a month now!**

 **Tempest: Please don't tell me you believe those words...**

 **Wouldn't in a million years. BUT I DIGRESS... I must apologise for the shitty update schedule that this story is experiencing and I really have no excuse for why I haven't uploaded in a while. And even then, I must apologise in advance for this chapter because I'm sure most of you will be pained to hear it's a backstory chapter. I feel as though I've made far too many things happen without actually fully explaining them and while I myself know why they do I don't actually give many good reasons or just don't end up explaining or continuing with them at all (pointed out to me many times by Fierce Striker - no hate to you man, just acknowledgement)**

 **Tempest: What, you mean like why you characters OP as knobs, why he left that totally not a bomb thingy under Beacon, why Amber's alive, HOW HE WAS ABLE TO CALL IN TITANS FROM ORBIT IN THE FIRST BLOODY STORY... seriously, get onto these things right now, even I'm annoyed**

 **What are you talking about, you're always annoyed. But yes, I shall be answering some of these questions and filling in some info I didn't continue on with from previous chapters, hopefully to satisfy those out there who are annoyed with my crappy writing style.**

 **Tempest: Yeah, yeah get on with the chapter, I want to see more of me kicking ass**

 **...**

 **Tempest: ARE YOU KIDDING ME! ANOTHER CHAPTER WITHOUT ME! THIS IS THE WORST TRADE DEAL IN [USER HAS BEEN MUTED]**

 **Oh wow, that actually worked... well, as I get a massive kick out of the fact that I can apparently mute Tempest with the press of a button, you lads and ladies have fun reading the next chapter. You can thank Winterwarrior127 (one of my friends in real life) for whipping me every damned day to release this... thanks man, I definitely needed it and kudos for getting my fat ass back to actually finishing this. It's especially long just because I wasn't at all happy with how everything flowed and I needed some sort of note to end on and I kept having to rewrite it until it felt at least decent and even then I feel as this isn't even close to my finest work so I'm sorry... I'll get back on to actually continuing the main plot soon enough and hopefully get back on to fulfilling those OC request people send in... I PROMISE I READ THEM I'M JUST REALLY BAD AT ADDING THEM!**

 **Yang: And without further adieu, ONTO THE NEXT CHAPTER!**

 **Wait... what the hell just happened!**

 **Naughtbeast**

 **Chapter 26:**

Titans always bring smiles to a Pilot's face. The booming footsteps, the clunking of metal around the cockpit and the weight of the massive weapons, all of it coalesces into a symphony of destruction that brings joy to all. Well, that was pretty much how it went for the majority of those who went into Pilot training, they wanted in on the biggest toys out there and they were going to have a damn good time with them.

Being a Pilot took a certain level of... insanity, to say the least. A Titan is less so a machine and more an extension of the Pilot themselves. Pilots were the only ones who could neural-link to the Titan's OS and when they did, as was said when anyone spoke of Pilots... nothing would stop them bar an overwhelming force or another Pilot of equal skill.

Which when you think about it wasn't exactly the best line for boosting moral, but you took what you got. And so, when Josh was once again starting up the boot-up sequence for a Titan after several months of little to no use he was positively giddy with excitement. The screen shuddered to life as the core of the beast whirred with energy. He felt the humming as the servos came online and the Titan's body straightened into a standing position, a tingling sensation running through his legs as though he had been the one performing the action.

Linking was a strange occurrence, one which not many people got to experience throughout their life and it was almost the definition of an out-of-body experience. Actions that were normally subconscious had to be mentally thought out as nerve endings were re-routed to instead control the complex systems of the Titan itself, so much so that moving your fingers or head was an arduous task to complete. Thankfully, 90% of the Titan's functionality was able to be thought-controlled which left little needing to be done out of link but needless to say, you never got used to it.

The screen in front of him flickered to life and the booting sequence began, activating the several ocular sensors that were on the 'head' of the Titan he felt his eyes tingle slightly as the display began to light up to give him the view of the outside world. Normally, with static screens it was extremely difficult to judge distance or angle give that a person's brain had to process where they were seeing it with their eyes but couldn't compute the angle at which the Titan's optics were viewing it from so with a slight change to the optical receival nerves it was possible to warp the screens in such a manner that it removed this discrepancy, meaning Pilots were essentially 'seeing' out of their Titan.

Now, once both the motor and optical systems were in running order it was onto the last of the lot... the AI installed. A small face appeared in the bottom left corner of the screen with features that were beaming with delight... which unfortunately quickly turned into a scowl.

"Joshua..." spoke the robotic tones of Vanessa, the Pilot inside quickly sighing as he subconsciously began the other routine systems diagnostics, ensuring that after their fight with that Grimm guy that she wasn't too damaged.

"You could, you know, address me WITHOUT distain in your voice? I mean seriously, we talked over this before!" he complained as he moved the Titan's arms to pick up the Plasma Railgun that was resting on a set of ropes on the ceiling.

"Maybe... I'm still annoyed though" replied the AI, Josh sensing her as she began searching back through the sub-systems of the Titan to initiate the several HUD elements that were yet to be loaded, the grey scaled reticule loading into place on his screen that he tested by aiming the railgun around the room to ensure it was responsive. Their talk about how Vanessa was apparently his 'sister' went just as well as Josh had expected it to go... that was to say, completely horribly.

It was a complicated story and one which he had told with no small amount of guilt and afterwards, Vanessa had upped her distain towards him, although thankfully she didn't want to kill him anymore, which was probably the one positive to come out of the talk.

Josh had explain how he had been his sister, a real flesh and blood one, and how everything had gone to shit for her life. Her 'original' life was as one girl known as Vanessa Crux Dakkery, the eldest sibling of the Dakkery family with an apparent death at the age of 24 after a serious accident during a car crash... a death which Josh apparently blamed on himself.

She had been given a promotion to Pilot and would receive the honour officially a week after the notification, and so the three siblings of the Dakkery family had decided to go out to a club in celebration. While Vanessa wasn't the type to drink she knew her brothers would somehow make it fun, probably by trying to get her hooked up with some random bar-goer, so she had decided to go along with it. The night had gone well and by the end of it, both brothers were stone drunk with little processing power beyond insulting each other with half-assed comments. The older brother, Damien, had elected to stay out longer with some guys he had met while at the bar, so Josh and Vanessa were left to drive home with Vanessa at the wheel being completely sober unlike her brother.

They had driven almost half way to their residence with Josh being mostly silent until he randomly began heaving in the back seat. Vanessa had pulled over in a seemingly empty industrial lot which was the closest turn off on the major road and took him outside, so he wouldn't stain any more of her car, but she failed to notice the figures that were coming up behind them from the darkness. They had jumped the two of them and beat them until one of the members managed to start the car, the rest jumping in and driving off. The two were left beaten and broken on the side of the road until the next morning when they were found by the workers of the site. They were rushed to hospital to recover from their injuries and after three days, Josh had been cleared to leave.

What he wasn't told until he returned home, though, was that Vanessa had received significantly more injuries and would have to stay there for some time. But, after three months, he knew there was no way she was coming back from this. His family began blaming him for her condition, particularly his brother who was blaming him for letting it happen to her and even his parents who he had caught one night wishing it was him who was in there instead of her.

Not being able to take it any longer he had made his way to the hospital to try and see what he could do given that he did have medical training and by sure coincidence happened across her senior officer in the Militia making a stop by, already talking to the nearby nurses about something. Josh had ignored him and only after he began sitting next to Vanessa was he finally addressed. As it turned out, the man wanted to offer him something, a second chance for Vanessa so that she could continue living, albeit not the way she used to.

He was a representative of the R&D division and was searching for candidates for the latest line of Artificial Intelligences that they were creating, and Vanessa was the perfect candidate. Her neural network would be clone and then copied into a computer program to the point that she would essentially be reborn as a consciousness lacking a body. Josh had originally objected to the idea, until he heard that it required a familial tie to sign off for the procedure. He knew his parents would never sign for her release, they were heavily against technology in just about every facet of life and his brother would never sign because his trust in the Militia was abysmal at best.

And so, with no small amount of hesitation he had signed the release form... his sister had been labelled officially dead... and one month later he had enlisted within the Militia to collect her when the procedure was finally done.

"Yeah well, we're doing rounds now because Demon's run off somewhere in a tiff and we have the wonderful job of searching around to find him so Ozpin can do some Ghostbusters shit and free him from some dude who's controlling him..."

"Uhhhhh, what?" Vanessa deadpanned, not even sure if Josh was being sarcastic or if he was actually being serious at this point in time. Even after all the time she'd spent with him as his AI she still hadn't picked up on just when he was using sarcasm. After his chat she felt as though her entire life had been coalesced into one giant lie and she wasn't sure what she was anymore, which left her in a rather unique mental state... she was pissed.

"I'll fill you in on the details while we're out in the field but... how do I put this? We may need to subdue Demon..." Josh hesitantly spoke, the Titan spending a few moments to whirr in thought as she processed his words.

"Well I wish you extreme luck in that case because I sure as hell won't be able to do that..." she quipped, not bothering to explain any further while she lumbered her mechanised body through the hall into the fresh air outside of the small lawn behind the inn. The inn was surprisingly close in comparison to Shade academy and so there was a particularly large area out the back which held enough room for most of the occupants to be sitting on the grass with room to spare.

"What do you mean, I mean sure he has his aura and Semblance with all the jazz, but he's only one guy and you're literally like a 15-foot mechanised war-machine"

"As much as I don't want to assume... I can say with certainty you've never actually have seen him fight on the battlefield, have you?"

By now, the Vanessa was manoeuvring the Stryder through the field until they were walking through the grounds of the almost deserted grounds of Shade academy. She had already had maps downloaded over the local network which gave her general maps of the surrounding area which gave her an almost direct path through the ground into the surrounding forest where they could begin their search. She had established links to the others scrolls and likewise devices to intercept their transmissions, so she had a general idea of what was going on after she knew Josh either hadn't listened during the briefing or simply wasn't going to tell her.

She didn't like it in the slightest and that was an understatement. Ever since she had been bought by Demon she had been in awe of his almost machine-like mind which somehow could construct strategies which even she herself couldn't even fathom. It was inspiring to say the least, but the most worrisome thing that she was often drawn back to was just how it had come to this and why he is as he is.

Her programming was to psychologically analyse the Pilot she was given but everything she had stored couldn't even let her begin to understand just how he was staying together. With the amount of gore and bloodshed he had seen in his time by all means he should have already been discharged under medical guidelines that the militia held for those with longer exposure to battlefield conditions... and yet each of his psyche evaluations had come back without troubles. Being bound to a mechanical conscience she didn't exactly have the capabilities to investigate just how credible these investigations were. But of course, all she had to go off were shorter-than-average sessions and a much larger pay-check being sent to those performing the evaluation.

"Demon may have a reputation but he's only just a human. I mean, sure he has an Aura and Semblance now, but he's been beaten before" Josh remarked, knowing with confidence that even the infallible Demon could be brought down with enough force.

"That's the problem though, when has he ever actually fought"

"He's fought plenty of times, in Miss Goodwitch's classes, in the Vytal festival and... oh... now I get it, all under controlled conditions"

He finally understood now what Vanessa was getting at. Sure, he'd seen Demon fight, but never seriously. There was the time with the Grimm when he was first transported here... but Demon was never trained to take down those creatures of darkness, he had always had his sights set on those with IMC printed all over their uniforms. Demon was a massive powerhouse in the Militia's promotional propaganda and he knew they would have to drag it from somewhere, but he had never actually seen him fight properly.

"See what I mean. As much I would like to have faith in superior numbers, I'd hate to tempt fate considering how ridiculous some of his battles were"

"But, I mean, he's just a human! As much as I hate to doubt him, he couldn't REALLY have killed someone with a billiard ball"

"I'll stop you right there because I did actually have the 'luck' to manage to see that in person... and trust me when I say it's just as confusing to see happen than it is to talk about"

"Urrgrgrggr... seriously though, how does anyone do that much crazy stuff! I've heard of kids trained to be killing machines, but this is ridiculous. How the hell does he fit so much stuff in his head! I did all my military training after finishing my medical degree but he's, what, only nineteen? He should be broken!"

"His adoptive parents were... not the best choice" Vanessa muttered in an almost sad way, which piqued Josh's interest, mainly because Demon had never even spoken about his adoptive parents before.

"How bad were they? Are they the reason he turned out like this?"

"I wasn't told everything but from what I can gather they have a VERY high chance of being the root cause. Well... less so his parents and more-so the person they hired to teach him the art of killing..."

 **[12 years prior to Remnant jump – Colony world Jormungand – headquarters of H &C Logistics Incorporated]**

A small boy lay in a cot within a dark and dismal room, reminiscent of a prison cell, his eyes open and straining to make out any shapes within the darkness that surrounded him. His bed was one of many within the grey and featureless room, although none of the others were occupied. Almost militaristic bunks were the choice of bedding and he had been glad that he was at least given the luxury of picking a top bunk. He was unsure of the time, as was expected considering he didn't have any possessions on him and a bed-side clock was low on his list of priorities.

His head of black hair was dishevelled with sweat which was mirrored in a patch on the bedsheets and one could guess was also the reason for the bags beneath his eyes. His breathing was laboured but was smoothing out with each successive breath as it was coming more under control with each passing second.

He was brought out of his stupor when light suddenly flooded the room and he was forced to cover his eyes with his forearm to avoid being blinded. It was only after a few seconds that he dared opened his eyes and he still strained to see through the new-found brightness, making out the dark figure of a person standing near to the door. He waited for his eyes to adjust before making any assumptions as to who it was, and he was almost glad to find it was thankfully someone he knew.

Chiquita was her name and as much as the smug as hell smirk she was wearing and the decked-out military gear complimenting the submachine gun swinging from her hip said otherwise, she was a nice person. As the bodyguard to his apparent new mother They had only met three days prior, but she had already taken to talking to him as though they were long-time friends and he honestly found it refreshing considering everyone else here had... well, to put it mildly, the personality of a brick wall. She had been his sole confidant after everything and he was honestly glad that she had been there.

"Come on, up and at 'em little birdie! We're off to meet the big boss so you gotta look your best!" she announced cheerfully, falling into a sort of lazy smile afterwards, one that she was always contented to wear just about everywhere.

She was quite youthful, which the boy found strange considering everyone else that worked here looked several years older than she did, but he mostly put it down to him being rude in assuming her age or something. He knew she was a body-guard, and if the solid black tactical gear that she wore and the weapons that she would never be caught without were any indication, her toned muscles and imposing physique would clue you in almost immediately. She stood head and shoulders above the boy at an impressive six foot three with a short head of dark black hair that fell between her eyes and contrasted her fair skin. The most notable feature was a large cross framed by rays of sunshine that was tattooed into her right forearm which was always left bare despite the body armour that coated the rest of her body.

A nod was the only response she received from the boy, a timid remark, more-so done out of formality rather than want to respond. With that reply she respectfully stepped outside and left the door slightly ajar, giving him privacy to change into the gear that she had left on the bunk below. It wasn't long before he stepped outside in a rather well-fitted miniature uniform over his frame. Complete with a small bullet-proof vest over his chest, the outfit was a perfect reflection of her own and she was marvelling at how they had managed to make one so small considering the small stature that came with his age.

He looked up at her with a raised eyebrow, almost as though he was asking if he had passed the non-existent test that she had set out for him. She gave him a smile and ruffled his hair to ease his worries but behind it she hid what real emotions she felt for the boy... sorrow. Because she knew exactly what kind of a burden would come with him having to don that uniform.

"Come on, best not keep her waiting, she's positively ecstatic at getting to meet her new son!" she cheered, beginning to walk down the corridor towards her destination, failing to notice the boy flinch as she brought up memories he was not happy to have to grip with so soon after the incident. He reluctantly followed a few moments later and fell into step behind her not long after, despite how large of stride she would take with each step.

The halls they walked through were just as unremarkable as the room he was stationed in, solid grey walls with directional signs at each intersection and simple marked doors along the walls of each corridor. After a rather awkward silent travel they eventually found their way to the sections of the building that were far more outstanding in terms of the fact that armed guards were standing at just about every corner that they turned. An escort had already fallen into step behind them consisting of two stone-faced men with rifles held tight against their chest as though they were prepared for the two in front of them to begin attacking.

The woman took it in stride and continued her casual sauntering down the halls towards their destination, wherever that was, whereas the boy had noticeably tensed from the extra attention, sending furtive glances back towards their shadows, more notably the weapons that they held and so he saw it fitting to quicken his pace to stay nigh a few inches away from the woman who he was following. Their walking eventually stopped when they finally came to stand in front of a large set of double-doors with a massive placard embellished within the wall above it, reading 'Main Office' in massive bold text.

Chiquita stepped up and swiped a key-card that hung around her neck over a strange sensor that was almost indistinguishable from the wall and the doors slowly began sliding to the sides, revealing the interior to the two of them. The boy was hesitant to step forward and so required no small amount of coaxing on the behalf of Chiquita, but they eventually stepped inside to see where their true destination was.

"I really couldn't care less how much it costs, you get it done and get it done on time! I do not want a repeat of last year's shipment so make sure –"

The boy kind of cut out after hearing that much of a rather young and feminine voice that was projecting from the far side of the room, the origin yelling rather forcefully into a handset that was held to her ear. Her back was to the two of them but after a questioning glance of the woman beside him, the boy knew this is who they were after. He knew who this was, and more importantly who this was going to be, his new mother. Without any legal guardians left, the only person who apparently came to his aid was this woman, yet he had barely heard her name until two years ago.

Her bleak white hair was the most stunning feature he had seen yet and he marvelled at how neat it was, cutting every bit the imposing businesswoman that he had heard she was, the idea only reinforced by the short pencil skirt and white business shirt that she chose to adorn. She didn't look like a bad person, but the boy was already imagining all the horrible situations, from her hating him from the moment she laid eyes on him to being just as abusive as he had seen some of the other parents be in their neighbourhood. As much as he didn't want to believe they would become real, he didn't really feel as though the world was through with kicking him just yet.

She spoke into the phone for an age and the boy honestly considered sitting on the floor, luckily though she did turn around in a particular bout of anger towards whoever was on the other end and finally caught on that the two of them were there. Her face twitched for a moment as she looked at the boy and it turned into some sort of forced smile, one which quickly disappeared as she turned around to finish up the conversation.

"... I need to put this conversation on hold, we'll finish discussing the deal later... what do you mean no? Do you know who you're talking to? If you want to get sub-par gear then go ahead but if you want the top-tier stuff then you'll do god damn well to listen to me, now goodbye!"

The woman slammed the device she was using on the nearby table and took a large breath, seeming to stabilise herself after the rather heated conversation. Taking one more moment to straighten her hair, she turned once again to address them with a smile that even the boy could tell was not even the smallest bit genuine.

"Hey there Hawk, it's so great to see you up and about after you mother was k- I mean, after the incident... Chiquita how about you stand outside for a moment, I'd like to have a few quality moments with my... son" she spoke, gesturing for said woman to leave. The boy went slightly wide eyed and frantically turned to see Chiquita leaving, his arm quickly shooting out to grab at her leg before she could go. She looked down to see his pleading eyes and she felt it tugging at her heart-strings, but she knew that if she didn't listen to her boss then a slap on the wrist was the least of her concerns.

"Don't worry kiddo, you're in good hands and I'll be just outside, ok?" she offered with a smile as she ruffled his hair, trying to at least give him a tiny amount of support but it still didn't look at all like he believed her. He eventually loosened his grip enough on her leg that she could finally leave the room, which mean that it was just him and this woman.

"I understand how you must be feeling so before we do anything else, let's introduce ourselves, maybe that way we can get off to a better start!" she spoke, shoving out her hand in greeting as though he were another one of her business partners, all formality. "My name is Koko Hekmatyer, and as you should already know I am the current head of the HCLI weapons and arms trade business, single richest and most profitable privately-owned company in the entirety of Frontier space and well... I guess I'll spare you the rest of the spiel. In short, I am your new legal guardian and I look forward to the future that we'll share together!"

The boy didn't quite know what to do and so he met her hand with a shake and was surprised when she shook it vigorously, causing him to almost bounce up and down on the floor. She obviously meant it to be as some sort of joke, but it was almost entirely lost on the boy who was at the most terrified of what was happening and using all his strength not to exclaim his surprise with a shout. Once she was done, not once picking up on his discomfort, she let go and stepped back, standing in place as she awaited his own introduction.

Once the boy himself was done getting over just what had happened he knew it was his turn and didn't quite know how he was going to get past doing it. It all just felt incredibly... wrong. When he spoke, it was a hush and grating sound which was a result of almost a day of constant tears and just over a day of no use. To say the least, it showed just how much pain he was in.

"My name is Hawk" he spoke simply, putting out his much smaller hand as she had done, cringing as an even bigger smile somehow worked its way onto her face when she grabbed his hand once again and shook it with all her might. He broke off as quickly as he could and stepped back, looking down to the floor as he didn't quite know what to do next. Before anything else could be said, he heard a colossal booming sound that seemed to come from the nearby window of the office and so naturally he was drawn straight to it.

After a few steps he was frozen in place at what he saw, no words or experiences being able to describe what he was seeing through the massive panes of glass that separated him from what was going on down below. His expression shifted to a mixture of terror and curiosity, his feet freezing in place despite how much he wanted to move away.

It was a massive room the size of two entire aircraft hangers and it had hundreds upon hundreds of construction machines running at once with sparks flying in every which way. Although, it wasn't that which drew his attention, it was the other machines which were the focal point of the whole thing.

Gigantic mechanised robots walked in droves one behind another with guns that would have been several times his size and even from this distance they inspired a sort of primal fear in him. Alongside them other smaller mechanised robots that walked in much larger groups, all of which were holding weapon that varied from smaller ones like he had seen Chiquita holding up to large tubes with warning labels printed all over them, most prominently that of 'EXPLOSIVE' shown near the 'top' of the weapon.

Their eyes were a glowing red and he could practically feel the hostility that they exuded as they walked down the massive loading bay towards an absolutely gigantic loading ramp which led to the interior of what he could tell was a space ship if the markings on what he could see of the hull were any indication. It was terrifying to watch as he questioned what in the world would possibly need all of these metal soldiers.

"Interested in my business I see. Top-of-the-line Atlas Titans and the first prototype models of the first-generation spectre mechanised infantry!" Koko broke out in a spiel, looking down with a smile at her work, once again missing the cues that the kid was exuding. "Those guys over at Hammond industries brought them up before I even began the sales pitch!"

Hawk by now had dispelled most of his terror at seeing the death-dealing machines that he had heard that Koko dealt with, but he was still in awe of what they were. She had been described to him as an 'arms dealer' but this was beyond even his wildest expectations. Being from a reasonably well-off world on the edges of the Frontier meant he wasn't exposed to much of the politics that went on around the worlds which bordered his area, even more so since his house was far detached from the rest of his village. He had seen one of those gigantic mechs before, but it was never like what he was witnessing now.

One of the farmers nearby had been friends with his uncle and had owned a decommissioned model of the Titans before him which he would often use to bring in the large bails of hay that laid around his property or to move around the machinery which his aging body couldn't quite cope with. He had ridden inside the cabin of one before and he hadn't gotten the smile off his face for weeks after but now that he was seeing them for what they really were he wasn't sure how to feel about them.

They were built to kill people... taking away their lives before they had lived out their lives into old age... just like his mother. The boy balled his fists and narrowed his eyes, feeling a strange sense of anger fill him as he continued to watch them walk along with mechanical efficiency. By now, Koko had seemed to finally catch on to what he was doing and looked on in mute interest, deciding after almost two minutes of silence to finally say something.

"What are you thinking? I've seen that look before and a little munchkin like you shouldn't have such a serious expression" she probed, for once actually sounding genuine when she addressed him. Her question didn't produce an answer instantly, but just as she was about to speak again, he made his thoughts known.

"If those robots are built to hurt people then... can you... teach me how to stop them" he asked in an almost innocent determination, Koko raising an eyebrow at such a strange request.

"Well little Hawk, I wouldn't exactly say that those robots are built to hurt people... the people that use them want them to be. If it wasn't like that then I'd feel a lot worse about being in the respectable business of arms trading. Guns don't kill people... people kill people"

Hawks gaze never faltered from what was before him as he contemplated in silence, not once giving Koko any indication of how he felt about her response, that was until he turned to her and said with the utmost resolution a phrase which Koko would never forget until many years later when she finally said goodbye to him.

"Then... teach me how to kill people"

To say the least... Koko had never smiled so widely in her life.

 **[Three years later – HCLI training quarters]**

The harsh booming of gunfire blocked the hearing of the many soldiers which were currently undergoing the soldier training regime to become part of the HCLI defence contracting division, well-known for producing exemplary personal defence personnel. This particular batch of recruits were in the second year of training and had only recently moved on to the practical training section of their stay with the company, completing a theoretical course the year prior to ensure they had a vast knowledge of squad and defence tactics before they began to familiarise themselves with weapons.

This was the fifth week of firing range drills and each of them had graduated to the level that they were now moving into the heavy weaponry subsection of the program which had each of them now beginning to hone their skills with both the Kraber AP and the Spitfire heavy ordinance weapons. Most were finding it easy to pick up and the stability of the Spitfire's automatic compensation mechanics were working wonders, and many had taken a liking to the weapons potential. The problem was however with the Kraber.

Most were not trained snipers and never intended to be and the unwieldiness of the weapons colossal weight was not lost on any bar those who had already trained with the beast. There was one however, who was having particular trouble trying to pick up the weapons intricate skill set... in a more literal sense than anything else.

A small boy, short black hair cropping his eyes which were now displaying his intense frustration at the task in front of him. He was by no means small for his age, but he was completely dwarfed by the men which were around him. Which was most notably because of the fact he was barely nine years old. In his hands he was trying to get around the unwieldiness that the mass of the Kraber presented but was having little luck considering his small frame could barely even carry the thing. The others watched on but knew not to help lest they be 'disciplined' by the overseer for interfering with another's training. It was strictly forbidden to involve yourself with another training so that HCLI could be certain of each individual's aptitude rather than their ability to be helped by others.

And so, after he had tired himself hefting the massive thing over to the firing range to his designated stall, the others were incredulous to see that he then began the meticulous process of setting it up for firing. That was when the commotion finally stopped. All of them knew that even the experienced among them were hard-pressed to control the recoil and so they all knew it would not be pretty if he even had the gall to pull the trigger. Each of them knew that they had to stop him... but each were dissuaded when they turned to meet the gaze of the overseer who himself was looking at the boy with narrowed eyes and a mouth set into a scowl.

They all knew the message... help him, and it's your hide that's on the line.

When they heard the unmistakable sound of the rifle discharging they all turned to see the small figure of the boy fall to the floor with the rifle close behind, smoke coming from it's barrel as the boy's face contorted in pain. As the two hit, all of those assembled could see the damage done and by no means were they disappointed in their predictions. His shoulder had been at the very least dislocated given his arm was pointing off at a rather odd angle and a piece of bone was highlighted even through the black shirt that he wore.

"BRANWEN! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" roared the overseer, jumping down from his post to stride over to the boy, not even showing the slightest of intent to help him in any way. The boy, who most of the others in the room fully expected to be wailing in agony simple stood up from his position on the floor to greet his overseer with gritted teeth, his eyes watering but not a single tear falling despite the pain he was in.

"Finishing the drill Sir... unless I can fire the Kraber effectively then I can't pass on to the next stage of training" was his simple response, which didn't at all seem to satisfy the overseer. He brought back his hand and with a swift clap of sound, a red mark was appearing on the side of the boys face where he had been slapped.

"DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU'LL BE ABLE TO DO THAT YOU DAMNED CHILD! THAT DAMNED ARM OF YOURS AIN'T GONNA HEAL UNTIL WE'RE IN NEXT WEEKS COURSE AND BY THEN YOU'LL HAVE WASHED OUT! YOU DISPICABLE PILE OF TRASH, UNLESS YOU CAN ACTUALLY FIRE THAT DAMNED THING WITHOUT FLYING OFF ONTO YOUR ASS YOU CAN KISS THE ENTIRE COURSE GOODBYE!"

The boy didn't at all seem phased and reached down with his undamaged arm to pick up the Kraber which had fallen to the floor and began re-setting it for firing. The bipod was deployed, and he used his undamaged arm to chamber another round, pressing the weapon up against his shoulder and wincing as it touched tender flesh. His free arm went out and fished piece of rope from his pocket, wrapping it around the trigger of the weapon and everyone else was stupefied to see him grab the rope in his teeth. Next to come out was the dagger that was sheathed at the small of his back, the small blade being stabbed into the table and anchored there.

His breathing slowed and with one methodical motion, whipped his head back and the rifle once again discharged. The others saw it before they heard it. The rifles recoil went straight back into his already mangled shoulder but with the knife as an anchor and an iron grip, the energy wasn't directed into putting him onto his ass and instead burrowed itself into his shoulder. The already dislocated bone was further destroyed as the shattered marrow poked through the skin and jutted out of his uniform as a stark contrast to the black that was normally present.

But again... nothing bar a sharp intake in breath indicated anything had even happened.

He carefully tore the knife free of the table and stood back, letting the rifle rest as he turned to face the overseer with barely contained pain through teeth that you could hear grating just by looking at them.

"Was that... satisfactory" he spoke in choked breaths, never once tearing his eyes from the overseer who by this point had no clue how to act. He had been given this child by the head of his own damned organisation and told to 'make him into a soldier' but this was ridiculous. He was meant to be her own damned son and yet she never once came to check on him in the barracks exceeding anything other than sending Chiquita in for status updates and he had no clue how he was even keeping up with the rest of the others going through the training. If anything, the bastard sure had more determination that the rest of them combined.

"You're either incredibly stupid... or you've got more guts than the big boss herself... either way, you're unique, I can give you that... NOW GET YOUR BLOODY ASS IN GEAR AND FIX MY DAMNED FIRING RANGE, YOU PUT A HOLE IN IT WITH THAT KNIFE OF YOURS AND I SURE AS HELL AIN'T GOING TO FIX IT!"

 **[Five years later – HCLI biotech R &D department]**

"Ma'am, the tests have far too much room for error and half of what we're installing could cripple him if things went RIGHT! I just think you should rethink this before you sign his life away!" came a concerned voice spoken in a harsh whisper. The voice was spoken from one rather femme fatale known as Chiquita and in a strange turn of events it was being used to address her own employer, one Koko Hekmatyar, who was at the moment enraptured with another person under her employ. Said person was currently strapped to an operating table with several doctors bustling around him with various tools of their trade on the opposite side of the glass to which the two of them were standing.

Hawk had his legs and feet bound to the table with his chest pressed to the metal, revealing his back which already had several incisions over its entirety, the largest running straight up his spine and stopping just after the base of his neck. Light scars were present as white marks against his admittedly pale skin with a rather large one right where his shoulder blade was, the remnants of his injuries from all those years ago during his days of training. One of the doctors was currently busying himself with a large array of tubes and metallic wirings that were sticking out from the back of the boy's head, being bunched so heavily that it almost looked like it was just his hair being braided, even though his actual hair had been shaved off for the procedure.

IV drips were running through both his arms and legs with fluid being pumped through in seemingly random intervals, never once forming a solid flow, which wasn't the most shocking thing considering they had several parts of his skin peeled off and freely bleeding while they began tinkering with the wounds with odd devices.

"What could you possibly mean Chiquita! These are the Frontier's top biotech scientists and none of the highest risk procedure only has a seventy percent failure rate, he's completely safe. He's being given a completely new life!"

"Ma'am, he's just a child! At least wait until he's cleared his weapons engineering course! He should have a say in what you're doing to him!"

"Chiquita, he had a say the day he told me to turn him into a soldier. I still hate that he chose those stupid degenerates over at Fleet Tech Constructions over my own instructors, but I suppose they are at least decent. But that doesn't matter... once I can prove that these enhancements can work he'll be both the perfect little soldier and the perfect promotor for my stock! Nanobots injected with a direct link to his optic nerves to render even the most advanced cloaking completely moot as well as a litany of other visual enhancements. A direct spinal graft to allow for complete nervous system integration into any and all operating systems we offer, he basically becomes a living computer, not to mention the boost to his reaction speed. Direct injection chambers of stimulants directly into his blood stream..."

"Koko, you're going to kill him..." Chiquita interrupted, not even managing to draw a reaction from the woman to any degree. Koko didn't bother looking back to the woman to give her response as the doctors within the room began to move around with a more rushed demeaner, only further amplified when the boy began spasming on the table, causing more fluids to run down the IV drips that were piercing his arms until he quieted down and they resumed their work with the same casual movements with which they began.

"Go on my perfect little soldier, go and make mommy proud..."

 **[Two years later]**

Koko sat at her large mahogany table within her private office scribbling signatures and notes over several letters which were present on the table in her usual rushed handwriting, her eyes flickering back and forth as the pen moved with grace and precision. She was so focused that she failed to notice the door opening and shutting in one smooth motion, allowing the entrance of her long-time bodyguard Chiquita. It wasn't until the guard came up and stood right in front of her desk and coughed in a rather obvious way to display her intentions.

The boss looked up and crooked an eyebrow at the fact that her choice in clothing wasn't anymore the blacked-out combat gear she was used to seeing and there wasn't even a weapon that she could see. Chiquita's normal smile was gone and instead was replaced with a strange look of apprehension.

"Don't tell me my personal bodyguard is quitting on me now, and here I was putting you down for a promotion" Koko joked, only drawing a sigh from the other woman who seemed to be avoiding eye contact with her.

"It's not that Ma'am. You asked me to come see you when I was heading off for my personal leave time and so here I am..." the woman explained, obviously annoyed that her employer had forgotten that simple fact despite how she had been reminded the day prior.

"Oh, ok then. Tell me, how is my little boy's training going, you've take him through the Titan operation course right? He's not still doing that ludicrous pet project for that pistol of his?" Koko asked, looking back down to her papers and resuming her previous writing, seeming disinterested regardless of the questions she had just asked.

"Yes, I've already tested his graft and as you predicted he's already surpassing the majority of our best Pilots in terms of combat effectiveness, although he still has an annoying tendency to destroy most of the Titans that we use for the tests. My personal training with him over the last few years have already prepared him for the advanced phases of testing. As for his 'pet project' that he's been working on, he finished that several weeks ago and the weapon is in the process of being green-lighted for mass production"

"How nice for him..." she said, not at all sounding as though she had heard a thing Chiquita had said.

"Ma'am you do remember that it's his graduation ceremony today. They're even doing it on the ship that was remodelled with his own designs, they're calling it the 'greatest battleship to grace the frontier' or something like that... he's really outdone himself this time" she remarked, letting out a slight smirk of pride for how far the boy had come and at how much he had accomplished.

"Chiquita! Why didn't you tell me! This really is a wonderful day!" Koko responded, Chiquita's hopes rising as she finally thought she would actually act like the mother she was supposed to be... until they were dashed once again as she continued with what she was saying. "He's finally putting all that annoying engineering behind him and we can finally begin to move on to his second phase of biotech enhancements! Thank you, dear Chiquita, I really am thankful that you reminded me, I'll be sure to add a little bonus to your pay for this!"

"You're welcome Ma'am" she responded in as much of a straight voice as she could muster, dreading what more she would have to deal with if she stayed any longer. "If that is all then I'll be on my way"

Chiquita turned to once again make her way out the door, quickly opening and not bothering to say anything else, that was until Koko decided to stop her right before the door was shut behind her.

"Say, before you go, your leave wouldn't have anything to do with this graduation of his would it?" Koko piped up, loud enough for Chiquita to hear but with enough edge for the woman to know it wasn't a question... it was more of an order than anything else, and if she didn't give the right answer then she knew how that would go.

"Not at all, it's just some family business I've got to take care of..." Chiquita replied through the semi-shut door, being thankful that the wood was there to stop her facial expression from being displayed to her employer who would not be too happy with how much she cringed with having to make up excuses.

She didn't receive a proper reply but heard a soft humming which meant her boss which was at least satisfied with what she heard... so Chiquita allowed herself a small smile in victory... twenty minutes later she was sitting in a dropship on her way to Hawk's graduation ceremony happily humming a tune to herself as she stared off into space.

 **[One year later]**

Chiquita's trademark smile had been used less and less as of late but whenever she saw her little Hawk fight she couldn't stop it from gracing her features. Right now, he was performing a simulated demonstration for a group of investors intent on hiring him out for a personal defence contract and as she watched the screens which broadcast his performance from within the simulation capsule, she couldn't help but walk alongside him as she thought through the meticulous hours of training she had put him through to drill such perfected combat into his nerves.

 _Check corner on left... perfect. Ready weapon for engagement... use mirrored surface to check peripherals... Engage targets at effective range, eliminate... ahhh damn, I still don't know how the hell this kid remembers everything I tell him._

Her smile only widened as he finally ran out of ammunition from his weapon of choice, the Spitfire, and the real fun started. Swinging it on the sling it was on to lock onto his back, he reached down and pulled out his secondary weapon of choice, a rather large hand-cannon which was a making of his own, the B1 Wingman revolver. Ever since he had 'perfected' the design he had been resolute to develop his prowess with the weapon and she had do say, despite her initial doubts about the slow firing speed and abysmal clip size compared to the standard issue pistol for most soldiers, in skilled hands like his, the only word to describe it is beastly.

The long barrel and mechanical loading system meant that most of the weapon's bulk was made up of the firing mechanism which could pump the .45 calibre bullets it chambers out at ludicrous speeds, she doubted many rifles could match it in accuracy. And yet, even with its unwieldiness, he was out-gunning spectres with fully automatic CQB weapons... she had no doubt he would exceed even her own marksman skills in a scant few months.

Once she had seen him effortlessly blast apart a squad of spectres without so much as breaking a sweat she instead turned back to her own job, making sure her boss' ass wasn't shot off by the rather interesting company they were with currently. Mainly a rather uptight businessman who was eyeing the screen with a type of scrutiny she knew had him enraptured. His name, though, was the largest problem... Lucious Hammond, the current head to Hammond Robotics.

And then there was the company he brought, a rather vicious looking bodyguard which she actually thought looked quite handsome if she were being honest and given the looks he kept sending her way, it was reciprocated. He had introduced himself as Lehm and they had gotten off into a small conversation while their respective charges talked, mostly consisting of Chiquita making several 'dumb blonde' jokes about the man's hair colour while he retorted with his own jabs at her apparent 'edginess' which had apparently been conveyed with her all-black attire and the half skull bandana she wore around the bottom of her face.

Chiquita had now noticed how Hammond's previously intent gaze had lightened to a mild disinterest and realised that he had already made his decision.

"Miss Hekmatyar, I understand this soldier holds quite the potential, but I must enquire as to his effectiveness against Titans"

"Titan's you say Mr Hammond? Hmmm, whatever job you have him lined up for it's obviously not some chump's errand"

"And here I was thinking client confidentiality was still present in this day and age..." the man casually replied, not once tearing his eyes from the screen. Koko didn't answer and instead pressed a few buttons on the tablet she was carrying, looking up to see that a Titan had been dropped into the simulation, one which Hawk was now facing down without so much as flinching. It was a standard issue Atlas chassis armed with an XO-15 Titan Battle Rifle, although they barely got to see it in action as the boy was already on the move.

Sprinting straight at the Titan, an Arc grenade was unlatched from his belt and thrown with such precision that it detonated straight on the machine's optics, rendering them useless and making the operating system begin firing the chaingun in seemingly random patterns, something which the boy seemed to almost casually dodge as he ran forward. Holstering his pistol, he flicked out his arm and not a moment later a knife was held within his grip, something he then used to climb up the stumbling Titan's legs while avoiding being crushed, utilising the blade to pry open an access panel which after a time bordering four seconds, caused the mech to begin sparking and fizzling at its leg joints.

Hawk utilised the stumbling and climbed up the rest of the beast, popping open the access panel to its reactor core and plunging his arm in, ripping it back out with bundles of wire which caused the mech to further fizzle out, ceasing the machine's attempts to knock him off with its flailing arms.

Three seconds after that, it's core was in overdrive and Hawk was walking away fixing the knife back in its sheath, waiting for the next challenge to present itself.

"Very well Miss Hekmatyar, consider me sold... with this contract, he'll be doing a lot of good for the IMC in the coming months"

 **[One month later]**

Chiquita's pumping heart throbbed in her ears and muffled the outside sounds of gunfire that were echoing throughout the corridors of the IMC compound that she was running through. Her submachine gun whipped up as she ran and after pulling the trigger for a quick burst, two IMC grunts thumped onto the floor with holes in their chests.

She rounded a corner and thanked her quick reflexes when she managed to dive behind a nearby wall as a barrage of gunfire peppered her last location. Pointing her weapon around the corner she let loose with the rest of the clip and heard more loud thumps. Ejecting the clip, she sighed to herself as she realised that she was out of any spares. Throwing the weapon to the floor she unsheathed her dagger and jumped around the corner in a flash of motion. It wasn't long before three more dead IMC grunts were lying on the ground with their throats slashed, all bearing the same ide eyes of surprise.

Giving herself time to rest, she slumped against the nearby wall and thought back to how this shitshow managed to start... all because once again she had let Hawk get out of her sight without giving a damned warning against doing anything stupid. It had all started as it should have... his first big job, working under a big IMC head honcho to defend a simple cargo convoy through a small patch of hostile space. As was expected, they were intercepted en-route, although it was the outcome that was really surprising in her opinion. He had been taken prisoner by the Militia, which in itself had raised some red flags, but it wasn't until he resurfaced a week later during a raid on an IMC storage facility that it all made sense.

He had let himself get captured, and she didn't like the fact that she could damn well guess why. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the IMC had something to do with it considering they bought out the place three months after it was decimated, but even she was in the dark about the specifics. She had no doubt that Hawk had figured out something at least to a satisfactory extent to basically begin waging war against them and had probably given the Militia group he had been sighted with details on their storage facilities... which lead to HCLI being blamed instead for the turn of events.

Which had then lead to her making a hasty escape with Koko back to their safe house and once again for Koko to show her ineptitude at being a mother by asking Chiquita to 'recover the asset' known as her son. And so, here she was, infiltrating an IMC base already on high alert to try and find her damned apprentice so that he could receive a thorough smacking for the shit he put Koko through... at least she knew that the woman wouldn't sacrifice her work with his biotech enhancements for something as 'small' as this.

Her quest wasn't over yet and so she hauled herself up and began making her way deeper into the station. It took a while but eventually, she found just who she was looking for and it only took a few tense moments of the two of them looking each other in the eyes for her to understand just what was going on. She had raised her hands in surrender so that he was at least comforted in the fact she wasn't his enemy in this, much like she assumed he viewed Koko right about now.

"Did you know?" were his first words, and he didn't need to say anything else about the matter for her to understand what he was getting at.

"Yes..." was the only word she offered back, knowing full well that lying wasn't going to get her anywhere and so brutal honest was on the table today. A nod of his head was her only indicator of how he felt and she instantly knew all the hard years of friendship they had forged was knocked down with that one word... and she wasn't finding it any easier to stop the tears for swelling forth as she imagined what would happen next.

And yet, she would never have expected him to come forward and wrap her in a hug.

"I forgive you..."

With her own feeble attempt at returning the gesture the rest of her barriers came down and she couldn't help but cry at the fact she was losing him after all this time. As much as she hated to admit it, she had always viewed him as her own child, an opinion that she knew Koko would never approve of but had only strengthened as she watched him grown into the young man he was today... and she couldn't have been prouder.

His hair had been grown to a length that reached almost down to the middle of his back, something that he had explained to her was an attempt to hide the wires and tubing that had been attached to the back of his head during his initial biotech enhancement surgery. And the one that had her beaming the most the skull mask he had wrapped around the bottom half of his face. She had always drilled it into his mind that people were always judged by appearances first and foremost and that little fact was a soldier's greatest weapon, second only to fear. And so, when the two were combined, it was perhaps more lethal than the weapons they carried. Which led to his adoption of her own tradition of 'war faces' as she called them, her own attempt at scaring the crap out of her enemies before she even began her work.

Instil the fear of death into your enemy before the battle and you have already won. That was her motto and he was doing his damn best to stick to it.

Yet, the mask did little to hide his own pain at what he had said next... how he was leaving HCLI for good. He had finally grown tired of how Koko had been using him and had decided to instead enlist within the Militia to, as he put it, 'find out just what had happened to my planet'. She wasn't mad at him for making that choice, but she so wished she could join him in his breaking of shackles. Koko still held her by the reins thanks to some old unsettled debts, but she knew he would do just fine on his own.

And so, with tears in her eyes she had to see him off with a wave and a kiss on the forehead as a parting remark. In that moment, they had exchanged unspoken words... it was a promise, to once again see each other when the time came, when the two of them were no longer enemies by proxy and instead could rekindle the friendship that they had developed.

Thirty minutes later the last of the IMC resistance had been cleared. Forty and the Militia dropships had finished scraping the place clean of any and all resources. Fifty and the last of the soldiers were leaving with as much haste as they had arrived.

Standing on the ramp of the last dropship was Hawk, his mask gone and a content smile of freedom gracing his features. Chiquita could do naught but wave a heartfelt goodbye at his departure but felt as though this was not the last time they would see each other within their lives. Unfortunately for her, it was about as inaccurate as she could get.

Three weeks after the incident, a report was released by most major news corporations on the frontier of the dissolution of H&C Logistics Incorporated after their main headquarters had been bombed with a nuclear warhead with no survivors to speak of...

 **[Back to Josh and Vanessa – present time]**

"What, so this Chiquita was the reason he turned into how he is now?" Josh spoke, trying to sum up how Vanessa had described the story to him. He knew that there was no way Demon was just a 'normal' everyday run-of-the-mill soldier given his more than impressive record within the Militia, but he had no idea just how deep it had gone. Soldiers could be subjected to several procedures to enhance their effectiveness, ranging from small things like the injection of nanites into the optical nerves in your eyes to automatically make your eyes adjust to low-light or glared conditions and even to have some HUD elements active without a helmet, all the way to complete prosthetic leg replacements so that Pilot's didn't have to worry about that annoying thing known as stamina.

And yet, to hear that Demon had been the test guinea-pig for every single on of these enhancements was ridiculous... and he damn well knew that the spinal grafting had been all but made illegal after hey heard about the nearly eighty percent failure rate of the procedure. The fact that he was alive right now even after the litany of tests he was forced to undergo was testament to his stubborn nature.

"Chiquita was the one responsible for his rather... brutal method of combat. She was one of the deadliest assassins ever registered on the frontier's law enforcements watch-list and he had apparently been trained by her for several years after he had graduated from HCLI's training program. Even that alone would have been enough to make him a killing machine, but top that off with his innate knowledge of the machinery and equipment fielded by both the IMC and the Militia, he was as destructive as ever. The one thing that I don't know the origins of is his fighting style ... even with my database access it has never been recorded in any documents from history"

"So, he's been trained by an already legendary assassin who was bodyguard to the frontier's richest arms trading company owner, enhanced beyond what you should realistically shove in even a Spectre and enough smarts to make use of just about everything he can get his hands on... why does it make so much god damn sense even though it sounds so bloody ridiculous" Josh lamented, rubbing his temple to try and remove the headache that was building at the back of his head.

"Yeah... Even I think it sounds a bit far-fetched. Without the records to back it up I would have just assumed he was crazy for coming up with a story that sounds at home in the furthest reaches of some fiction writers brain trying to justify how ridiculous his feats were"

Some kilometres away, Tempest sneezed for no apparent reason, furrowing his eyebrows and staring into the sky... then having to dive to the side from several completely random falling anvils after a rather vengeful author felt particularly vindictive at the current moment.

Besides that, however, Josh thought it best to drop the topic and take it up with Demon later on to get better details, finding that once he broke from his train of thought Vanessa had wandered a fair way along the outskirts of the city so that the city limits were just within view, enough so that her sensors were no doubt scanning passively for any disturbances which would indicate someone was there.

Josh groaned to himself and began trying to search for something to calm him down after all the stupid pain he had to deal with... he really needed a drink. He disconnected the neural link to Vanessa and kicked up his feet onto the small bar in front of the display screen, reclining the back of his seat as far as it would go.

"Wake me when anything interesting happens..." Josh asked, wishing he had actually gotten any sleep the night before over spending a stupid amount of time trying to get his nanobots to begin the self-replication process without the terminal he usually used.

"Fine, but don't blame me if anyone slips past my sensors while you're not watching"

"Oh please, no one here has cloaking that can fool your sensors and they go out to like 300 metres, nothing's getting past them"

Of course, as he was saying that, neither the Titan nor Pilot noticed the figure flying high above them with ghostly purple wings propelling them further into the forest, nor did they notice the light tapping steps of another figure running in the exact same direction of the first, whose presence was masked by the shimmering air around them which reflected the landscape which they passed through, almost like a mirror...

 **[Three hours prior]**

The bartender of The Bee and the Barb inn never really was one for asking questions. A lot of the 'unsavoury' folk frequented his bar and so it was bad for business when they found out the bartender liked to chat. That wasn't to say, however, that he didn't know his way around the happenings of the city. It was amazing how much information you could get by staying in the same room for the better part of the year.

As he always said though, knowledge is power and he like to 'lend' his power to anyone willing to pay a large enough price. This of course was more-so for protection on his part given the unsavouries but he gave any information needed to anyone who looked the part, and so when he saw a kid who looked like the famed Raven Branwen, someone he had the... pleasure... of meeting in person, he didn't exactly want to try his luck. However, when he found out he wasn't there remove his head from his shoulders, he happily began consulting in his usual trade.

When he was gone, however, he set out his usual spy network to gather anything they could, but what they brought back spelt bad news. The guys he was staying with were all armed to the teeth with some sort of new Atlesian Paladins to boot. Even worse, it turned out that the guy he sent them to was the Scythe Hunter, one of Vale's best Huntsman. He didn't want his guys to get busted and so called them off with a warning against getting a few free shots for getting extra information.

And then, now here he was, having a rather peculiar customer asking where they could find him... he didn't know quite how to react. But then again, he wasn't one to discriminate. And they were all the more persuasive considering the fact that she had pulled a rather sharp looking knife from the parasol she had carried in. Of course, his usual patrons were all either completely plastered or where staring at her in a fear he didn't quit understand until they mouthed her name... Neo.

It was a name rather well-renowned within the underworld for a multitude of reasons, all of which were bad news. Several bounties, none of them ever collected in the multitude of years they had been set for and notches under her belt he couldn't even dream of. Thankfully for everyone she had been tied down to her employer, the ever evasive Roman Torchwick, so she wasn't going around 'tying up the loose ends' but if she was here and not with him... well, he was glad he was an information broker and not one of the people she would no doubt be hunting because he did not want to be o the bad end of this psychopath.

Considering that however, it meant he could get a good look at her with reasonable certainty that he wasn't going to be killed. The outfit she wore only looked vaguely familiar to the one he was told she wore, yet it was the dual-coloured hair and eyes which gave her away. From what he saw of her when she walked in, knee-high white boots adorned with black buttons covered her lower legs with what had looked like an inch or two of solid heel. They went on to contrasting solid black leggings which went up to her mid thighs and broke to reveal roughly two inches of skin before a pair of brown shorts went to her waist, a tiny fringe of white fur coming from the hems. It was held in place by a black belt around her waist with a second belt slung down from her right thigh which held a small bandolier of throwing knives.

Her midriff was left exposed until it reached a dark black corset which was only seen for about an inch and a half until it reached a white jacket much like the old one he had been told she wore, with a pink collaring except the arms stopped short just before the elbows with pink cuffs. Two coattails trailed down to just above her kneecaps and he saw several other flashes of silver from within the blackness of the inside of the coat. Her left hand was covered in a fingerless black glove which had a small tussle of fur around her wrist, while her right hand had a full glove with what looked to be pink veins running through the fabric up to the middle of her forearm where it ended with gold embellishments. And then, there was her hair, a pony-tail tied so that the brown and pink sides of her hair inter-linked in a criss-cross pattern perfectly.

And then... those killer eyes, the one which were now boring into his own with an intensity which said 'quit the staring or I'll gladly remove your eyes'. He offered a small smile of apology to which she rolled her eyes and pulled back her knife and sheathed it back into her parasol, swinging it over her shoulder and taking a seat at the bar. The barkeep didn't quite know what was going on but he sighed when she pointed out a drink from the list he had printed on the wall.

"You want... a strawberry sunrise? Uh, sure?" he checked, receiving a nod from her before she added a few things in, "no ice? And one of those little umbrellas?"

Neo glared at him and he raised his arms in defeat, concocting the drink she asked for and sliding it over, the woman downing it with a few hearty sips. She swirled it around and sighed in content before he visibly saw her shift once again into 'business mode'. She pulled out her scroll and opened up a photo, turning it around... and lo and behold it was of his rather interesting customer a few days prior.

"This guy, hell no, I'm not showing you..." he spurted out, not finishing the sentence before she had already unsheathed her blade by a few inches to show him the cold steel, shutting him up instantly. Once again, his eyes flicked to the steel and an awkward smile. Five seconds later he had scrawled an address on one of the napkins nearby and passed it over to her. Her eyes looked to it and she shook her head, taking the napkin and writing one single word... information.

He looked down on it and swore internally, weighing up just who was the more dangerous of the two... and right now it was the mute assassin in front of him.

"You want info, I don't have much on him, but I can get more?" he offered, the mute looking somewhat satisfied before she scrawled down a number on the paper, one which after she twisted her scroll around, he found out was her scroll number... great, now he was being contracted by the damn woman.

Ten seconds after that and Neo was happily skipping along the streets of Haven once again happy that she had fulfilled another one of the jobs she had set out for today. And so, she was down to her last one... going back to the inn room they had rented to actually confront him again. After what he had told her, to say she had conflicting feelings would be an understatement and so she had taken a few days to weigh up just how she was feeling. Finally, she had an answer and she was happy to say that she wanted to tag along with their merry little band of friends, for better of for worse... mainly because it was better than going to prison or getting tangled in another gang again.

She watched the sun slowly fall on the horizon while she skipped through town towards her destination, giggling to herself while the others on the street either unconsciously or consciously moved aside to let her pass.

When her feet finally fell tired she was glad to see she was outside The Bannered Mare, right where she needed to be, and so with a smile on her face she reached out to turn the door handle to the inside... only for it to slam out and smack her in the face. She fell backwards in shock and rubbed her nose from the pain, looking up to see just who she had to stab for hurting her... only to freeze as she saw who it was.

"I'm so sorry are you... oh my, it's you!" came a rather familiar voice from a certain blonde that Neo knew all too well. Rosaline. The girl was reaching down to help her up and Neo felt a certain rage boil up within her, one of jealousy... but she fought it down to remain civil, taking the hand and letting herself get helped up, dusting her clothes off from the dust. Neo gave her a smile of thanks and the girl gave her a brimming smile of her own as a reply, right before her eyes flicked to something off in the distance.

"I'm really sorry but I'm on a time crunch here... look, we're in room 274 so come stop by when you have some spare time but we're busy right about now"

Neo quickly grabbed her arm to stop her and raised an eyebrow in question, hoping she got the message. Thankfully, she was a lot more clued in than half the people she dealt with, which was mostly because they were all dumb crooks, but she was confused to see conflicting thoughts splay across the girl's features when she looked back at Neo.

"Well, he did say you were trustworthy... ok, Demon's gone off somewhere and we're all looking for him so if you do want to help then you can link up with someone else you can support the search" Rosaline explain, obviously looking as though she really didn't want to be wasting time... unfortunately for her, Neo wasn't done. Neo took out her scroll and wrote down the fact that she wanted to help Rosaline, something which the girl obviously didn't want to happen.

"I'm really sorry but I've got some... other stuff I need to do. It was great to see you, really, but I've got to go now. Stay safe!" she said as she parted, jogging swiftly down the street away from Neo.

Neo on the other hand, couldn't stop herself from smirking.

 _Hmmmm, little miss girlfriend here doesn't want to find her man? How peculiar. Who is she kidding! Following her sounds a hell of a lot more interesting than listening to blondie talk my ear off for hours..._

So, with a new mission in mind, Neo activated her semblance to cloak herself in mirrors so that all anyone would be able to see would be a slight distortion in the air as the reflections overlapped, something which she used full advantage of to follow the girl. She wasn't going to let some half-assed lie stop her from getting in on the fun!


	30. Violence begets Violence

**Well... it appears I have once again been able to scrounge together enough MacDonalds (#notendorsed) free wifi to be able to post the chapter again, and after a week or so of writing on my crappy Ipad mini (also not endorsed), I have finally made a damned chapter.**

 **Tempest: Jeez, took you long enough... you'd think after this long you would have figured out to GET A DAMNED NEW LAPTOP OR SOMETHING!**

 **You try being broke you asshole, I'll get one as soon as there's a sale on two minute noodles or something. Joking aside however, I am terribly sorry about the ABYSMAL update schedule that has been the last few MONTHS. I am well aware that I haven't exactly been the most diligent of story writers but I am doing my best to keep my work to its *cough cough* high standards without devolving from the story which I had set out for it too much.**

 **Tempest: Not to mention all the other crap you've been doing!**

 **Amen, I have unfortunately been caught up in a hell of a lot of crap these past few months which have taken up way too much of my time, mostly job-hunting and organizing myself for a trip to Europe which coincidentally leaves in two days from now. Not to make any of ya'll jealous, but at least HALF of the money I am taking is for Belgium waffles, so eat your heart out. As for the next chapter... well... how do I put this... it may be a while once again.**

 **Tempest: I will stab you, you know! I even have that other dude, what's his name? The Audiobook dude, Powerhose or something? AHhhh, Powerhouse, that's his name... yeah, I've got him backing me up this time, so you better get your damned ass working on the chapter ASAP! There might even be apparently a new version of me coming along! What could be more glorious (and annoying) than two versions of me!**

 **Not many things, let me tell you... but, I suppose you're probably sick of me rambling on and have probably already skipped to the actual story, so I'll get the rest of the pleasantries out of the way so we can get on with it. The two OC's of Hawk and Stone (complete coincidence I assure you) are resident property of the man, the myth, the legend, Powerhouse616 who (shameless plug inbound) is surprisingly STILL doing the audiobook of my first story Angels and Demons over on Youtube, so go be a lad and check him out.**

 **Tempest: So, without further adieu... ONTO...**

 **... what? You're not going to finish it? I thought you were just stealing all of my lines these days?**

 **Tempest: Nope... not me**

 **Yang: ONTO THE NEXT CHAPTER WE GO!**

 **Ahhhh, what's she doing here!  
**

 **Tempest: She's here to beat you up for not releasing a chapter in two bloody months!**

 **Oh crap... NONONNONO! NOT THE FACE! NO, NOT THE FAMILY JEWELS EITHER!**

 **Naughtbeast**

Melee weapons had never been his schtick. That was what Demon had held to for the majority of his training, that close-combat wasn't at all necessary in the day and age he was in. With massive twenty-foot-tall mechs lumbering around and the presence of firearms, there was more chance of simply being shot if you ever decided to run into battle with a sword or the like. That was, until his instructor enlightened him to the devastating damage that a melee implement could induce.

Firearms were designed for killing. They left neat, finger-sized holes within a person and with way the projectiles were designed, left little damage other than the hole it put in you. It was entirely possible to be shot several times, albeit in the right places, and still continue uninhibited. They let you take down targets without even needing to see the whites of their eyes and that's where they were meant to stay.

Melee, on the other hand, had a lot more to say about 'walking off the injury'. Where a bullet would punch a hole through flesh and muscle to deal its due, even a glancing blow with a blade would tear through skin and leave a painful injury which would prove at times even more serious than that of a gun. A man's throat was far easier to cut with a blade than with a bullet.

The thrill of danger was palpable when engaged in a blade-fight with an opponent. It was a battle of raw skill and the person who slipped up first would feel the pain of their failures. With a firearm, on the other hand, it was placing a little red dot right in between the eyes of a victim, pulling the trigger, then moving on to another target.

But alas, he knew it would be foolish to invest his time in the past and not look to the future and so his close-combat skilled had been reserved for just that, combat within the confines of tight-knit corridors and darkened hallways. It was simply stupid to rely on the bad-luck or indecency of your opponent when they can end your life with a bullet to the brain before you could even blink, let alone begin to get within range of your chosen implement.

And so, as he held the heavy handle of his odachi within his grips, Demon truly began to feel his appreciation for the close combat he so sorely missed. Each flick of his blade and he could feel the resistance of the Grimm flesh as it parted around the implement, the cold steel of his weapon parting the blackness with an ease which he was still marvelling at.

There wasn't much he ever marvelled at lately, being part of the Militia meant you were on new worlds just about every month and the 'native' species that called them home were often eye-opening. The massive Leviathans who called a planet of their own name home, who were so large, numbering hundreds of stories tall, that their mere presence would interrupt warp-drive jump coordinates. The Warper's of Harmony which, rather than walk, choose to teleport a scant few feet every time they moved and were instrumental in the upcoming development of more than a few of the Militia's R&D pet-projects.

But what he was surprised about was his own growing skill with the blade. His close combat had always been with knives and fists, swords were unheard of within the modern battlefields of the Frontier, and yet he found he was quickly catching up to the Huntsman and Huntresses which he was travelling besides with startling speed. He had only ever been introduced to the technique for less than a year and what little professional instruction he had received from his mother numbered in total hours less than a day.

From what he had gathered from the others, their combat training had been through gruelling hours of instruction from an early age, much like his own training, coming from childhoods spent at preparatory schools to become what they are now. The others from his world, Kira and Josh specifically were all struggling to implement their own melee weapons into their fighting mindset, using the blades they had installed in their weapons rarely out of training.

This... this felt different. It felt as though he had been training with this blade for several years, each nuance of the sword strokes ingrained into his muscles so that it was second nature. It had to be Kalazar, that was the only explanation he could gather. Accelerated learning was always something he had been an advocate for, but he knew this stuff couldn't be rushed like the fundamentals of physics and metallurgy.

Alas, he would have to live with it, because he couldn't exactly unlearn what had already been ingrained and it was always better to have back-up options within a fight. Protecting his friends had become one of his top priorities and he was thankful that he could do it better as a result of this.

Right now, however, he could guess would be a time where they might come in handy as he finally came within view of his target. A horde of Grimm were circling so thick that he could barely see through them and the only indication of anyone actually being in the middle of the horde were the snapping retorts of something which resembled a whip crack and a strange rushing of air which sounded awfully similar to a tornado if he had to liken it to anything... and by no means was he far off.

As the horde came further into view he saw two saws of whipping air carving up the black Grimm like butter, lighting fast blurs which left trails of flame lingering in the air. Which was rather annoying to be honest because he had little opportunity to see just what was causing this practical pyre of flame which was keeping perhaps a hundred Grimm back with little effort. Standing off to the side, he chose instead to watch on at the masterpiece which was being painted before him, knowing full-well that the huntress he was looking for no-doubt had the situation under control.

His odachi went back into its sheath on his back and the next few minutes were filled with the same slashing sound of rending flesh as the Grimm were turned to shreds as they walked into the blender that was this huntress' weapons. When the last Grimm finally fell, he saw just what was at the origin of the absolute massacre... and had to keep staring for a few seconds longer when he finally saw who it was. He raised his hand to say something, but he was at a loss when he tried to comprehend just who he was looking at, until the huntress in question finally saw him at the edges of the clearing.

"Oh, hey there, long time no see aye?" came a petite and rather quiet voice emanating from the small frame of an all-too-familiar face.

"You... you're the lunch lady!" he stated incredulously as he walked over to meet her, earning a snicker from said woman, the small and armour-clad form of the serving lady he had seen often at Beacon's cafeteria. Emmily Shira, the name which he had sworn he had heard before and one which belonged to the middle-aged professional badass which had flaming kunai trailing along the forest floor behind her with a litany of Grimm bodies disintegrating behind her.

"What? I told you I was a professional huntress!... and you still haven't paid me back for that window!" she retorted, smirking as the ropes of her kunai knives were being wrapped around her fore-arms, the blades still glowing from the flames which had engulphed them moments prior. Demon couldn't help but laugh at the banter, happy that after the past few hours of brooding he could put his thoughts aside for this, until he remembered why he was here.

"Jokes aside, I'm here as a messenger, we're in need of some serious back-up and you're the only trained Huntress or Huntsman that we could find"

"And just who is this 'we' you're speaking of?" she asked, perking up an eyebrow in interest, wondering just where this conversation was heading considering their rather strange meeting.

"Well... ahhh, to put it simply... we've got two first-year teams from Beacon, two second year teams, a tag-along guy from Vacuo who can sleep through an artillery bombardment, an ex-criminal who's mostly on our side and finally a kid who has the ghost-soul thingy of Ozpin stuck inside of him... oh, and a drunk huntsman won't let me at his damned whisky"

The woman, to her credit, took most of it without so much as flinching, nodding along to even the most insane parts of his explanation, only seeming to finally question things when she heard his last add-on.

"Wait, you're not talking about Qrow are you?" she said, Demon catching a bit of both surprise and a slight hint of anticipation in her tone.

"Seriously, you're not questioning the other crazy crap and THAT'S what you're interested in? Some old geezer who spends more of his waking hours with a hangover than being sober?"

"So, it is him!" she cheered, a smile working its way onto her face, "Sure thing then, I'm in... so long as my family can tag along, I don't want them getting stuck here while I'm the only actual Hunter here to exterminate Grimm"

Demon nodded and offered her a hand to shake, the woman taking it with vigour and shaking it heartily.

"Well, with that out of the way, I'd call this little hunt successful!" cheered Emmily, pumping her fist in the air while the kunai around her forearms disintegrated back into embers.

"That was easy..." remarked Demon, looking down at his scroll to see that it had barely been a scant three hours since he set out to find her.

And like that, Murphy's law decided to rear its head once again in the form of a rather large Beowolf lumbering from the tree line directly in front of them, rearing on its hind legs and standing fast in their path. Both stopped their conversation and eyed it up suspiciously, their hands wrapping around their weapons before they even began to contemplate just what was going on. It appeared just like any other Beowolf the two of them had seen, standing just under six feet with no defining features... except for a tattered brown cloth which flittered around in the wind as it was tied around the beast's right arm.

Normally, this wouldn't be much concern, but the two of them knew when they were in for a fight and this thing was exuding an almost tangible aura of bad news around it.

"You just had to jinx it didn't you..." deadpanned Emmily, igniting her arms in fire to reveal her kunai while Demon drew his odachi from hid back, flicking it to full length and levelling it at the beowolf.

"Depends, any chance it's just a normal one like the others?" he joked, knowing that it was way too much to ask for. Which was only further confirmed when Emmily whipped her kunai towards it in such a flash that a gust of wind almost caused Demon to be knocked over... only for the thing's paws to come together and stop it an inch away from piercing the bone white mask which covered its face.

"Yeah, that isn't happening"

She didn't have any more time to say anything else before its arms tensed and Emmily was yanked at ridiculous speeds strait towards the beast before Demon could even blink. Before he could do anything, the thing held out its arm and clotheslined her with a brutal side-swipe, cratering her into the ground and making an audible boom. It seemed to ignore Demon entirely as its claws extended to plunge deep into the Huntresses chest, stopped only when Demon's odachi knocked its hand away with a slash, a faint trail of smoke leading to his position over the prone figure of Emmily.

What Demon didn't expect, though, was for his previous Grimm-bisecting blade to be hindered by a brown reflective aura around the beast's arm, causing it to merely growl at his intervention. Narrowing his eyes, Demon pulsed his Aura to ignite the fire Dust on the blade and set it alight, slashing in a wide arc which caused to beast to jump back and avoid the attack.

Pointing his odachi at his opponent to dissuade an attack, he bent down and placed his hand on the back of her neck, almost slapping himself for not remembering that he couldn't exactly feel for a pulse beneath solid metal and so instead settled for trying to shake her awake.

"Hey, get up" he muttered lowly, still eying the Beowolf which was still choosing to stand watch from some distance away, the scarf around his neck fluttering in the light breeze.

 **"Leave her..."** spoke a dark and gravelly voice, one which Demon could have sworn came straight from the open maw of the Beowolf in front of him, stunning his mental processes for a few moments as he was realising what was going on. He didn't have time to respond before the prone form beneath him groaned as if waking from a long sleep and groggily stood up with some trouble.

"God damn that thing hits like a truck" she swore, rubbing her temple with the back of her hand and blinking her eyes to try and get feeling back. Her kunai burst into flame and appeared once again wrapped around her wrist, the sharp blades hanging loosely from below her wrists as she readied to attack again.

"You... heard that thing speak right?" Demon asked, not quite sure if he was just imagining it after having a similar voice occupying his mind for several months not letting him discern where it properly came from.

"Oh yeah, that's right... I probably should have warned you beforehand. There's a reason why I'm the only one left in Haven right now, this guy's been seeing to that for quite some time" she explained, gesturing to the beofolf before them, locking eyes with it as she subconsciously began formulating another plan of attack. "The real reason I was out here was to try and lure him out, which worked... but, ahhh, how do I put this... I don't really think I can take him properly now" she admitted shyly, Demon sweat dropping at her obvious nerves.

"So, this thing's been taking down Hunters? Is it some kind of assassin Grimm or is there something more to it?"

 **"Assassin isn't exactly the term I would use..."** came the gravelly voice again, removing any doubt from Demon's mind as he saw the words come forth from the beast's maw as clear as day, causing only more questions to surface from his mind.

"He's one of Salem's lapdogs from what Ozpin's told me and he's EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. We were warned not to approach him without at least a full team of Hunters to try and take him down"

"So, you went to try and fight him by yourself?" he asked, not quite sure what she was thinking.

"Well, I mean yes? I didn't really have any other option now did I?" she retorted, glaring at him before turning back to the beast before them.

 **"Do not forget our deal madam, I was being merciful, but I must still complete my duty"** toned the voice again, this time addressing Emmily.

"Deal?" questioned Demon, now even more confused than before as to what the hell was going on. Emmily looked away sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck while giggling a fake laugh.

"Yeah, you see the thing is I kinda did this on purpose... see, he may not look it right now but there's a person in there somewhere and he does seem to have some semi-decent morals. He knew I had a family and everything, so he offered to 'do the deed' where they wouldn't have to witness it... at least now they think I was offed trying to eliminate a Grimm den or something"

Demon couldn't believe what he was hearing and even less so when he heard the tone she was using in her voice.

"You're just giving up? You're handing yourself in to this monster without even putting up a fight!" he stated quite forcefully, a minute amount of anger worming its way into his words without him noticing.

"My family means the world to me and I could never imagine them having to go through losing me... so yes, I'm handing myself in, so they don't get hurt. I have no chance against this guy, even if I was back in my peak condition... but now, I barely have enough aura to take more than one hit and he's already had enough time to run his Semblance for ages"

"What does his Semblance have to do with anything?"

"He is a hunter and that's what his Semblance is about, he picks a target and can instantly begin countering everything that can do, from simple attack patterns at first to complete Auric suppression if he has enough time... really, you should get out of here before he decides to kill you as well" she finished solemnly, still not giving up the cheery smile she had on her face.

Demon didn't quite know how to respond to what she was doing, although he could understand... she really didn't have any other options. If she resisted, then if what she said was true this thing would just slaughter her in cold blood which no doubt would complete whatever plans that Salem had set out for him. And this thing itself, he was nothing to be underestimated if he truly had taken out every single Hunter in Haven by himself. But, despite all that, he knew what he had to do long before any of the variables were taken into account.

"Yeah, to hell with that, you're not dying on my watch..." he said stalwartly while pointing his blade once again at the Beowolf, "and this guy is going to enjoy having a blade shoved through his stomach for what he's done"

 **"Leave, my quarrel is with her, so move aside worm or I shall be forced to take your head as well"**

"You can go right ahead and try..." countered Demon, looking him dead in the eyes to get his intent clear across to the beast, although he wasn't exactly prepared for what it brought.

 **"So be it... do not say I didn't warn you"** is said, and that's when all hell broke loose. The ground beneath its feet suddenly cratered as it launched itself up into the air at insane speeds, diving towards the ground with claws outstretched straight towards where the two of them were standing. The two Hunters jumped to either side, just barely avoiding the massive explosion of dirt and dust where the thing landed. Demon didn't get a second of respite as he only barely managed to catch a blur of black fur speed straight out of the dust cloud, bringing his free arm up to cover his chest, catching a raking of razer-sharp claws over his armours forearms which sent him careening into a nearby tree and causing it to splinter with the impact.

His vision righted almost instantly, although he had once again lost his target, only catching sight of him once again as he saw Emmily desperately whipping her blades around her in a frenzy to try and catch him with an attack, the beast dancing almost effortlessly though the blade storm to swing its paw once again at her body. Demon slowed his breath and focused again to activate his Semblance, finding himself a foot from the two of them in the blink of an eye, sending his odachi straight to cleave through the beast's arm once again... or it should have.

Time seemed to slow down as Demon's adrenalin kicked in and he only barely managed to perceive what happened when he broke from his own Semblance's time dilation. The beast had somehow noticed his attack and had already moved its arm from where he was slashing... and instead was sending four claws straight for his own gut. With another quick draw of breath, Demon activated his Semblance once more and had to desperately fight the urge to vomit as he realised he had been too late and the claws had already hit him square in the gut, sending ripples of pain through his chest even with is Aura active.

Desperately wanting to get out of the situation, he quickly warped behind the beast and struck out, glancing the thing on its back to once again be deflected from its aura as it jumped away in anticipation of his attack. Demon didn't quite know what to think of this thing if it could predict his near instantaneous attacks with enough reflex to be able to counter said blows before they even occur, this was pure insanity.

Luckily, as he was focused on Demon, Emmily quickly whipped out he kunai and caught him in the leg while he was mid-jump, slamming him into the floor with a quick pull and whipping the kunai back to her own arm to avoid being thrown around. The thing growled once again and narrowed its eyes, crouching low and sprinting off into the treeline at blinding speeds, the two Hunters losing sight of it quickly as it became indistinguishable from the dark tree trunks that were around the edges of the clearing.

"Anything else you need to tell me about this thing?" Demon asked, knowing for sure as hell that this wasn't all she was letting on given what it could do. It was unlike any Grimm or Hunter that he had ever even heard about and he would even hazard to say he wasn't keen on the outcome he was expecting from this fight.

"Not really, as I said before, numbers is really the only advantage that we can get... his Semblance can counter one individual at a time and the longer a fight goes on the better it works. Unpredictability is his fault and its even better when he has to fight on multiple fronts"

"That's just great..." muttered Demon, shifting around on his feet to scan the treeline for their little friend, moving his free hand to unclip the lock on the Wingman at his hip before slipping into his pocket to boot up his scroll. Just as he was about to press the emergency beacon activation signal, he had to dive out of the way once more as claw marks rented dirt and grass from the ground where he had been standing moments before, his scroll flying out of its holdings onto the forest floor.

Without even thinking, he dove towards the ground and desperately pressed on the screen with his off-hand, hoping to whoever was out there that he had by chance managed to press the activation beacon. Unfortunately, before he could confirm, a long, slender claw punched straight through the top of his hand and through his armour into the ground below, shattering the scroll into pieces as Demon's hand was pinned into the ground below.

Refusing to let the pain show, he made a feint with his odachi, the claw erupting back from the ground and releasing his hand. Dropping his current weapon, his Wingman was next to the forefront and he unloaded eight shots directly into the Beowolf's hide thanks to the element of surprise after neatly dodging his odachi. The thing growled and once again darted back into the forest, leaving Demon to struggle against the pain coursing through his arm as Emmily watched on in worry.

"You good?" she asked hesitantly, not really paying too much attention as she tried desperately to scan the surrounding trees for sight once again.

"Yeah, completely fine, I only lost all feeling in every finger but my thumb!" Demon shot back sarcastically, knowing she really wouldn't care when they were both stuck in this situation together. Her chuckle didn't do much to dissuade the tension, but Demon's mind was too focused on trying desperately to formulate some sort of plan. If this thing had managed to pierce through his aura in only a few hits, it wasn't looking good for their survival rate… all he could hope was that someone had caught his distress signal.

 **[1km away – Current Time – 500m above sea level]**

Her wings strained against the overbearing winds, her body shaking as she strained to keep her wings from dissipating and sending her hurtling to the ground. They had taken to shimmering every few minutes or so and the connection her scroll had to the CCT tower in Mistral was getting even fainter by the moment. Even more so, her sense of direction wasn't exactly IMC Frontier Ranger material. Yet Rosaline refused to give up, she wouldn't let Ozpin get to Demon and 'cure' him before she would have words with him.

She was sure he would have an explanation… it might not be reasonable or may not even make any sense, but she would be damned if she didn't at least give him a chance to explain just what he had been living with.

Once again, she consulted her scroll for directions as nothing, but endless trees provided her with any sense of direction, yet once again the damnable compass on the device refused to stay in a set position for any more than a second. Curses poured forth and she slapped it against her thigh, bringing it up again to find that it had decided to settle in one direction.

Not really trusting it to actually give her proper directions, she prayed it would at least give her a general idea of which direction to follow after Demon given that the man she met in Mistral had said Demon had travelled East. Just as she was about to slip it back into her pouch, a tiny little blip on the edges of her map appeared for the faintest of moments, enough to catch her eye amidst the endless green displayed on the device.

Bringing it back up, she traced to where the ping was and traced back on her scroll's logs, feeling her heart skip a beat as she saw what it was. The team-leader distress beacon had been pinged for barely a moment, but she now had a solid lock on Demon's location, feeling a sense of pride when she saw it wasn't too far from where she was. With a quick tilt of her wings, her course was altered and the holsters of _EmberSnow_ were released with another quick alteration.

The flapping of her wings escalated while the pumping of her aura hardened to keep the constructs in order for an even higher acceleration than what she had been keeping up with ever since she left the borders of Mistral. She just hoped she could get to him before anything drastic happened…

 **[1km away – Current Time – 500m below 500m above sea level – in short, right below Rosaline]**

Neo sighed again… how god damn longer would she could keep this up. One of two things was going to happen in the next few minutes… she would either shoot that annoying pigeon out of the air for taking her on a wild goose chase when she thought something interesting would happen… or her calf muscles would spontaneously combust in protest of her full-out spring to keep up with said pigeon through the thick forested area of Mistral's outer landscape.

A Semblance which would account for teleportation wasn't much help either as her eyes were constantly checking the skies to ensure she was following perfectly fine which led to, as hesitantly as she would admit it, two near-misses with rather large tree trunks. After that, she guessed rushing it probably wasn't the best plan and so flat-out running was on the menu for the day. Her… petite stature didn't do much for her speed on the ground but after several years of a hard lifestyle on the run, her physique was still in peak performance even after a few weeks of minimal action.

Even then, she would personally gut anyone else who could run as far as she had without feeling that burning feeling in their legs which was currently screaming at her in several different languages to just bloody stop and take a break. Of course, being the kind of person, she was, she gave them the middle finger and kept running.

Just as her calves were seconds away from plotting a revenge murder, her eyes spied the girl above in the air, which she was following, bank hard to her right. Her mind finally cheered in joy when she realised, they were close, if her pin-point directional change was anything to go off, which made her calves put away the knife they were preparing. Only a bit longer and she would finally find out just why this girl had elected to travel some distance from the safety of the city's walls. Because if it was anything less than some idiot tapdancing while shouting about having visions from some divine god or something, her parasol's blade was damned well getting used…

Unfortunately for her, back in the city, a certain COMPLETELY INSANE blonde Pilot coughed profusely for absolutely no reason at all and continued to maintain his complete irrelevance to the plot at the current moment while the author shifted shamelessly onto the next scene without at all explaining things in-depth enough to give the reader an idea of what was going on.

 **[Clearing in Mistral Forest – Battle between Hunter Team of Two and Unknown Entity – Observers]**

While Demon and Emmily were locked in a battle of life and death, two casual observers were watching from some distance away with the assistance of a pair of military spec binoculars, no sounds coming from the pair… that was until the smaller of the two, wearing full black armour decided to pipe up.

"You know… we could have always taken the easy jobs. You know, no life-threatening suicide missions or anything, get enough money to get our own shop somewhere and be grizzled old war veterans making coffee for the entitled youth of today while doing nothing but complain about life"

"Stone…" muttered the other one, the only one of the two who was actually looking through the binoculars between the slits in his stained red helm, while the previous was lying with hands behind his head lounging in the crook of two branches.

"Yes?" answered the first, still clearly not paying attention while he was fiddling with a small blade.

"Shut up" deadpanned the first, twisting one of the knobs on the side of the binoculars to adjust his view, slinging them back into his back after grunting to himself. "We've got a mission to complete and we're not having another botch like last time"

"Like last time! Excuse you, but wasn't it me who got us OUT of that Atlesian Military barricade!"

"Correct, but it was ALSO you who was idiotic enough to broadcast our position on an OPEN Atlesian Miltiary frequency"

"Welllll… yeah, but it was fun wasn't it!"

"If you define fun as spending half of my cut repairing my armour after having to buff out artillery round impacts"

"Pffffft, that's nothing… either way, what's the situation we got here? It is our target right, but who's that Grimm dude, it's not that Wolf Knight or whatever it is they call him"

"Unfortunately for you and me, that is exactly who it is. And yes, the Branwen is here"

"Easy as pie then, we roll in, bust the two of them up and be on our way to getting you some new armour then!"

"Sometimes you really annoy me. It's not that simple. We're facing one S tier threat and no matter what you say, we are NOT risking our hides when we're not even contracted to take him out. Secondly, he is currently engaged with our first target which makes extraction nigh impossible. Normally, I'd recommend just grabbing the target and letting him have his way with the other one as he didn't immediately show signs of hostility towards our own target… but, he knows who we are and I doubt we'll get out unscathed, certainly without the target"

He muttered to himself as the plans wound themselves through his mind by none of them seemed at all optimal for what they needed to achieve. Unfortunately, however, whatever he was thinking was put on hold as he saw a rather familiar black armoured figure strutting through the forest floor below him towards the battle. Shooting a glance to where his companion SHOULD have been, he could only sigh heavily as empty air was all that greeted him. His armour clattered as he unsheathed the mace on his back and dropped to the dirt below… at least now things would be a lot more interesting.

 **[Central fight]**

Claws once again raked against the outer shell of his armour and tore plates from the suit, sending Demon sprawling to the floor, only to roll to the side moments later as they sought to send him deeper into the ground on which he lay. His pistol was currently once again in two pieces on the floor after being sliced in half while his odachi was thankfully still in action and the only thing keeping the entirety of his body from being turned into diced ham from the claws that this Beowolf thing insisted on slashing at him with.

Emmily, by this point, was still in action but looked to be of secondary concern for the thing, seemingly without reason, which meant without her being in direct combat with the thing, even her ridiculous reflexes didn't allow her to try and get shots off on it. Demon, on the other hand, was growing increasingly annoyed as his entire body was aching after a constant battering from its attacked. It wasn't getting any more tired and yet each attack that it landed would leave him adding to the ever-increasing pool of blood that now tainted the forest's greenery.

With his aura already reduced to fumes from the thing's attacks, his sheer will to continue was the only thing stopping his body from being sliced in twain by some stray attack. His chestplate had been dented near his right shoulder and adding to the damage of his left arm, his gauntlet had been completely sheared off from just above his elbow. Scratches marred his leg plating, testament to very near-misses which would have seen him unable to walk for quite some time. Yet, despite this damage, he made well to note that the plates of his armour were quite undamaged and they were yet to crack or break like they had before, despite the punishment. If he were to take this into combat against the forces which the IMC would throw against, he doubted he would have much trouble simply walking towards them in an open field.

But despite all this, he could feel his time slowly dwindling. Each attack he was receiving was happening fractionally faster, almost unnoticeable at first, until he was constantly pressured to dodge and evade with ever smaller windows between. It was taxing, and right now he was losing the battle of attrition. Igniting his blade once more with the slivers of his aura which remained, a quick slash gave him reprieve from the monster's onslaught, enough time for him to plunge his hand into the pool of blood at his feat to try and get some kind of advantage.

Pain racked his arm, but considering the state he was already in, it was nothing, so he was glad to see the blood dissolving into black mist and begin stretching itself over the hold in his hand, feeling returning to his fingers mere moments after. Of course, this was quickly ruined when the black figure surged back into his vision and kicked him into a nearby tree, shattering the bark and causing pain to be sent up through his spine.

Grunting in dissatisfaction, he shoved himself to the side and dodged another swing.

"You know, this is getting awfully repetitive, are you sure you don't want to call it quits?" he asked rather dryly, surprised to find the beast stopping for the first time in the fight.

 **"I couldn't agree more. You are growing tiresome, so if you would kindly lay down and die worm, then I can be on my way"**

"… yeah, kinda figured that would be your response"

And like that, the fighting resumed… just as pointless as before and just as deadly. That was, until they were interrupted.

"HEY ASSHOLES!" came a new voice from within the clearing, new to the three present combatants and heavily distorted from what a normal person would sound like. The fighting ceased, and the beast and Demon turned to see a black armoured person waltz into the clearing to interrupt their fight. In their hands were two shortswords, both sparking with a blue electricity which was powerful to arc between both the two of them and the ground below. Their face was covered by a high-tech military-style helmet which was emblazoned with a bone white skull over its dark face-plate.

Flanking behind the figure was another a short distance into the tree line, armoured in a rouge coloured, medieval-esque armour plating hefting a colossal two-handed mace which he seemed to be completely fine with simply swinging idly around like it was a stick. It did seem to fit

 **"Leave now and keep your lives!"** warned the Beowolf, growling at the two of them while his eyes were darting between both Emmily and Demon as well as the two new figures.

"Funny thing bucko, I was about to say the same thing to you. See, we just want that little boy there in the good old red armour and we'll be on our merry little way! See, completely easy and harmless transaction which is best for the both of us!"

The Beowolf seemed to mull over the idea for some time, before its snout lifted into the air and it took in large intakes of air, sniffing around like it was searching for some particular scent.

 **"Hold… you… you two are some of His lapdogs aren't you!"**

The Beowolf's posture instantly stiffened and his legs tensed once more, and for once Demon was glad because he wasn't on the receiving end of the onslaught any longer.

"Hawk, if you would…" spoke the black figure, gesturing to massive armour-clad behemoth behind him, thankfully clearing up the confusion which briefly came over Demon at hearing his name. The armour clad-figure stepped forward, an absolute mountain of a man who could probably have rivalled Yatsuhashi in size, and a wreath of flames engulfed him, wings of pure fire erupting from his shoulders like a volcano would. The head of his mace was similarly affected as the head was engulfed in a burning orange magma, which began to spit globules of some strange molten substance onto the forest floor, setting it alight almost instantly.

The Beowolf lunged forward to try and attack, only for the mace to meet its attack head on and explode in a ball of fire, Demon watching as a black ball of fur was launched far into the forest with such a force that three trees were snapped completely in half before they even began to slow.

"Well… that was fun to watch" remarked Emmily, now paling at the newer challengers which they were faced with. Demon on the other hand, was too busy analysing the newcomers to give his own response or remark. He had no clue what to think of them if they were here for him. Sure, some people knew who he was and connecting him to his mother wasn't that hard considering the armour, but if they knew her then that meant they weren't exactly the type to take him back in handcuffs.

"Emmily, get out of here now, this is your only chance to run without being hunted down. I can distract them long enough but make sure to alert Shade Academy as soon as possible"

"You're kidding me right… you risked your life for me, I'm not leaving any time soon"

Demon let out a small smirk when his fears were confirmed by her words, knowing full well that this was how she would respond and that the two of them were almost quite definitely not going to make it out of this alive.

"So, chances of being able to take these guys on?" Demon asked, Emmily catching his meaning and sending a lightning fast kunai towards the one armoured in black. Unfortunately for her, her kunai weren't exactly LIGHTNING fast and the field of electricity surrounding the figure arced out and struck it mid-flight, altering its course ever so slightly as to send it a mere inch from his face. Her annoyed sigh was the only response which Demon needed.

Against the Grimm Beowolf creature they stood little chance of even coming out alive, and with these two added into the equation there were few situations where he could see the two of them walking out of this. So instead, he did the only thing which would buy him some more time… he'd play with his food.

"So what are you two? Assassins? Mercenaries? I can't imagine whoever sent you would decide to hire some has-been academy dropouts or something like that"

"Has-been academy drop-outs! Hawk, you're hearing this right! The dumbass thinks we skimped out on getting our pretty little papers saying we kicked ass professionally! Nah kid, it doesn't matter who we are, all that matters is, as cliché as it sounds, that you either choose the easy way… or the hard way" spoke the one in black, flicking his swords around the backs of his wrists in circles, doing so nonchalantly while the lightning continued to arc off them in increasing volatile surges, each time sending brief images of electric blue veins running through the armour which he wore.

"Stone, sounds as though he's just flabbing until that beast comes back… we don't have the time to deal with him as well, so just take him down and be done with it" responded the other, watching the treeline for the black body of his previous target to re-appear, looking rather impatient as he was.

"Really Hawk, you think this guy can take us? Big ol' beasty over there already did a number on him and he ain't even got aura left! He's more like a very spikey teddy-bear than an actual threat!" argued the other, turning back to look at Demon once again, tilting his head as if observing him again. "You know what, yeah, you're right… this guy does look like a big waste of time, I'll just bag him and we'll be on our way I guess. But you owe me a fight, remember!"

"Yeah, I'll make sure you get one" answered the bigger of the two, tensing as a black blur quickly shot forward from the forest, batting aside his mace and scratching his chest plate before being pummelled back out of view by a back-hand from the giant.

Demon, for his part, had been silently sending hand signals to Emmily while they were distracted, conferring a plan which he hoped would actually play out. If it did, then they'd at least have a chance of making it out… if not… well, he wasn't exactly one to plan for failure. The one in black turned to him and raised the sword in his left hand, the blade shimmering as more electricity was poured into it, seemingly from the man's Semblance, glowing a bright blue was he held it pointed directly at Demon.

"Sorry buddy, but you heard the big buy. We came here to collect our bounty and that's unfortunately you. So, give a quick goodbye to your head because you unfortunately won't be seeing much of it"

Before Demon could retort to continue his stalling, the electricity on the man's sword cracked in a powerful burst, coating the black armour in blue for a mere moment before they disappeared, the only remnants being singed black grass where he had stood. Demon, to his credit, reflexively activated his Semblance, drawing in breath and only barely feeling the sharp sword point graze the edges of his hair before he himself teleported away from where he had stood.

What he found himself seeing was, Stone as the other had called him, covered in the residual electricity from a lightning fast teleport which had placed him right behind Demon, another burn mark exactly the same to one he had seen earlier imprinted onto the ground where he stood. As he let his breath out, struggling to hold his Semblance for too long with such a low trickle from the remnants of his Aura, time returned to its normal pace and the black armoured figure followed through with his attack, grunting audibly when he felt no purchase from his blades.

Emmily, for her part, acted immediately as well, sending her Kunai out straight at his head. The lightning that was still arcing out managed to hit it again, but instead of an almost complete deflection it carved a rent in the side of his helmet, the woman smiling in victory at hitting something for once. She didn't let her small victory distract her, though, and tugged on the rope, wrapping it around his neck and yanking hard, aiming to knee him in the head while he fell.

Stone was prepared for the most part and rolled into the sharp pull, bringing his sword up for a stab which caused Emmily to have to quickly jump away and unwrap the rope. He grunted and was just about to bring his sword up once again for a quick teleport before he was quickly forced to dodge to the side, lest Demon's odachi slice his arm off from his elbow down.

The Pilot was thankful that they were fighting an actual human target this time, unlike his bout with the Beowolf thing, as he could effectively read the slight tells from a human's posture to predict just what they were doing. Admittedly, it usually wasn't all that helpful as there were usually several things which could happen with one simple muscle tensing, but it was far better than having to simply watch for the razor-sharp claws careening towards him to figure out what the opponent was planning on.

His odachi was batted to this side and it was now his turn to dive aside to avoid the two shortswords which were swung towards him. His odachi came around again and sought to slice through the man's legs, his opponent jumping over the blade before disappearing in a burst of lightning, Demon's head rolling forward as the sword once again came dangerously close to carving into his neck.

He didn't need to worry, though, as two Kunai whistled overhead and a sharp clang was heard as one embedded itself into his armour, Emmily whipping it towards the ground and sending the man with a loud smash into the floor. He grunted and teleported once more, appearing beside his accomplice who was locked in a stale-mated battle against the Beowolf.

"Hawk, get your ass over here, these kids ain't playing nice…"

"I'm a little busy here, dammit, this mutt isn't keeling over just yet and the bastards already chipped out nearly a quarter of my aura" the mountain complained, twirling his mace around to once again push aside the claws of the beast, sending an elbow towards it which was pointedly dodged in turn.

 **"Leave now and you MIGHT just live, you dogs, GIVE ME MY PREY AND I SHALL GRANT YOU THE MERCY OF A QUICK DEATH"** growled the Beowolf, holding off his attacks so that he could address the two assailants, clearly not too happy that his hunt had been interrupted not once, but twice thanks to some gate-crashers who were, for some reason, interested in the person he was hunting. Surely there couldn't be any more of these idiots around.

"HAWK!" came a feminine shout, once more a new addition to the fray. The Beowolf's growling intensified as everyone in the clearing looked up to where the voice originated to see a glowing set of purple angelic wings carrying a figure from high in the heavens down to the clearing, the figure dropping down right next to the red-armoured Branwen, wrapping him in a hug before anything else was said.

Demon, on one hand, was elated to see Rosaline gracing his presence once more, although it quickly grew to concern at the mess she had walked into. The girl herself was quick to break from the embrace and grabbed him by either shoulder, looking straight at him and into his eyes.

"Ozpin is looking for you, and not in a good way. He's… scared of whatever it is that voice is inside you" she explained, Demon flinching when Kalazar was once again mentioned. "He's calling it some God of Death or something like that…"

"Rosaline, I won't lie to you and say I don't know what you are talking about… He is something which I never wished would ever come to light, but life never seems to want to be easy. I promise, I'll explain everything to you the second we get out of here… no secrets. But, right now, we have a slight problem"

As if to emphasise his point, the Beowolf had taken the opportunity to stealthily back up behind the other Hawk in the clearing, using the lull in combat to bite into his shoulder and draw a shout of surprise from the mountain. His mace was dropped and his hands went to grab the beast by its snout, prying the jaws apart and throwing it onto the floor, moving to stomp on its neck, only for the Beowolf to quickly flip away and go back to growling at Hawk.

"Oh no… it's that thing again" muttered Rosaline, looking on in horror as she caught a glimpse of the brown cloth wrapped around its arm, thinking back to their fight back in Kuroyuri with this thing… and the fact that they needed a Titan just to capture him. The beast heard her lament and turned towards her once more, scowling even with a rather inproper snout for the manoeuvre.

 **"Worm, I have already done battle against you before… if you do not wish to be harmed for your transgression against me then take your friend and leave, I am here for the other female, so your death is of secondary concern"**

Rosaline was taken back at being directly addressed, but after hearing just what she was after, her determination rose and she un-holstered _Embersnow_ from their holdings, pointing them at him and flicking the safeties off.

"Sorry, but I'm not leaving anytime soon" she spoke calmly, moving the mask that was hanging around her neck up to her cover her face and powering on her HUD, taking the time to observe the clearings other occupants. Stone and Hawk backed off from the two groups of the combatants, both the Beowolf beast and Demon's crew, swearing to themselves for getting into another stupid situation.

The three groups all tensed once again as the air of the clearing turned hostile almost immediately. Their minds were already made up as to what was happening and all parties doubted the possibility of a peaceful resolution. And so, they all watched as a single leaf floated in the wind through the clearing towards the centre, slowing as it was caught in a draft until it fluttered to the ground in silence… and then all hell broke loose. The Beowolf, for one, was the first into action as he hurled himself at his first target, grunting as he found a wall of both Demon and Rosaline blocking his path when the two of the stuck out to catch him mid attack.

Hawk and Stone, both attacked in unison as they too charged Demon's group, intent on ending the fight as soon as possible with their quarry in hand, only to find a veritable wind-storm of rope and blades surrounding Emmily as her kunai whirled around her at lighting fast speeds. Stone strutted forward confidently, knowing his lightning had previously simply struck the blades out of the air, only to step back in confusion as the storm seemed to almost pull the lightning into itself, sparks of blue flashing every few moments within the maelstrom.

Hawk chose instead to continue the assault, trusting the integrity of his own armour to withstand the assault, while Stone diverted his attention to the other group that were locked in combat with the Beowolf.

Rosaline and Demon, despite not training together for quite some time, were both pleasantly relieved when the old fighting strategies they had devised as a team back with Kira and Sid at Beacon were still embedded in their memory, the two of them transitioning, albeit a bit awkwardly, between each other's attacks to continue their beat-down of the Beowolf.

Demon was finally glad to have some form of respite and was astounded to see how far Rosaline had come since he had last seen her. The firing speed of her pistols meant she definitely wasn't using the auto-targeting function they had implemented, and her wings were being used as rather effective shields to batter away the beast's attacks and allowing her to continue with her own barrage of bullets.

Just as he was about to move in to slice at the thing's legs and catch it off-guard, he was lucky to spy a spark of blue on the reflective steel of his sword, jumping out of the way as quickly as possible and only managing to be caught in the lower back with the sword swing that was sent his way by Stone.

He turned to face the new combatant and made Rosaline aware, her affirming nod followed by her wings propelling her away from the two so she could distract the Beowolf. Demon silently thanked her and quickly charged towards his new opponent.

While he knew Rosaline wasn't a veteran to combat, he knew she could handle what the Beowolf threw at her. Despite how badly he had fared originally, he finally understood what Emmily had meant when she said he adapted to fight the combatant. His fighting style had almost been a direct counter to his own during their bout and once the two newcomers arrive he had steadily began to push back the other Hawk after time with some amount of effort, but adding another person to the mix had completely thrown him off balance once again. Her fighting style was definitely different from the others in the clearing, owing to her choice of weapons and Semblance, and the short time the two of them had fought him, Demon could tell that he was so focused on countering the others he had fought that she would have an edge against his specialty to his previous opponents.

Yet, he quickly cut his thoughts as he realised he wouldn't have much chance to congratulate her later on if he didn't focus on the enemy in front of him, emphasised by the blade which very nearly added a new scraggly mouth line to his mark with how close it was to his face.

His odachi, while indeed a butter-knife to the Grimm creature's butter, wasn't the prime weapon in the close-quarters fighting that Stone utilised. With each clash of their weapons, an electrical jolt would be sent up his weapon and into his arm, flaring the still healing wounds in his off-hand and dulling the senses he had and loosening his grip on the weapon.

Their fight continued for some time and the battle of attrition was being steadily won in Stone's favour as Demon's whittled aura left little room for error to avoid the attacks and the weakening grip on his weapon was enough to give his opponent the edge he needed. Stone himself was impressed with just how much of a fight this kid was putting up. His employer had said he was dangerous and not to be taken lightly at all, recommending extreme use of force straight off the bat. That was still questionable now, but he did have to admit, the kid had skill, but ultimately that wasn't going to do much in the long run.

The electricity which was arcing around his blades was focused into one with a quick mental message through his aura, and the next attack which connected with the kid's weapon was the one which decided his fate. The current arced from his blade to his opponents and he watched as it caused his opponents hand to spasm, losing the odachi on the floor which was quickly kicked away by a smug Stone.

Demon's face contorted into anger at his own short fallings and he desperately tried to concoct some sort of defence against whatever this guy was intent at throwing at him, but without a viable weapon he didn't have much.

He had… nothing… nothing which would pull him out of this hole he had dug for himself and the others. He could save himself, but that was out of the question if he couldn't take both Rosaline and Emmily with him. With a dark thought he realised this really was going to be where he died… and for once he actually felt the nibbles of fear at the edge of his thoughts as he realised what that meant.

He looked to Rosaline as she fought with the Beowolf beast… and his thoughts were instantly righted to where they should have been. In his neglect, he had failed to see just how the fight had progressed and was shocked to find the Beowolf, not exactly as aptly named anymore. It had sprouted two Nevermore wings from its shoulders, two Boarbatusk tusks coming from its head, a Deathstalker tail coming off from its lower back and finally the fact that its paws resembled much closer to the colossal dimensions of an Ursa than a Beowolf.

Rosaline, for her part, was desperately battering away attacks with the brunt of her wing-shield, shakily trying to slot in new magazines into her weapons to keep up her attacks, but ultimately failing as she was forced to dodge great distances each time the beast made a large lunge in her direction for his own attacks. Just as he was watching, she saw her ethereal wing shatter under the force of the beast's attack and her body flying through the air and into a nearby tree, cracking it slightly as her Aura flared to absorb the attack.

The cry she screamed into the air in pain was one which Demon resolved to never hear again as long as he lived, so with is resolve steeled, he used the last remaining pieces of his Aura to fuel one last usage of his Semblance to slip past Stone without being slashed in the process and quickly ran towards his girlfriend as the beast slinked towards her to finish his job.

He shouted to grab its attention and thanked the stars that its head turned to meet his challenge. Unfortunately, however, he was no more than an annoying nuisance in his battered state and the beast simply swatted him into a nearby tree as well with a quick whip of its tail. Through the trails of red covering his eyes he watched on in horror as the beast once again slinked towards his girlfriend and raised its claws to seal her fate… he watched as they descended almost in slow motion, his heart sinking as they inched closer and closer to her vulnerable figure.

And finally… he watched as those god-forsaken talons cleaved straight into the figure of his girlfriend and embed themselves into the tree behind her… or they would have, had Rosaline not simply shattering into glass and disappeared from her position, only to reappear some distance away. Demon's eyes quickly darted to where she appeared, and was relieved as anything to see she was still ok, even more so when he saw Neo standing beside her, giving him a quick wave to show that it was indeed her that he had to thank.

Struggling to make his way to his feet, Demon propped his arm against the nearby tree and spat out a globule of blood that was pooling in his mouth from the impact, knowing full well that the more he continue to battle in this near-death state the worse he was making it for himself. But, no one would get away with attacking his girlfriend so long as he could still walk. Shuddering forward, he stood upright and locked eyes with the beast, issuing a silent challenge to it for even daring to touch her.

He lifted one foot meticulously, placing it forward until it felt solid ground, then lifted the other… or tried to at least. In his weakened state it appeared as though his legs were once again failing to respond to his mental commands. Putting even more effort into the movement, he failed to notice the fading colour and sound of what was around him… until he felt a pain shoot through his gut.

Looking down, he finally understood what had happened… two short swords were sticking out from his gut, right through his stomach, and severing part of his spinal cord just above his pelvis, indeed accounting for just why he wasn't able to move his legs anymore. Still confused as to what was happening, he looked up to Rosaline and Neo again, finding looks of abject horror and panic riddled across their faces.

Indeed, it appeared this was real.

He barely felt Stone's boots press against his back as the swords were retched from his back, sending his limp body to the floor while Stone flicked the blood off of his weapons with as little attention as he gave to the now dying figure on the floor.

"Sorry kid, you gotta understand, this is just business" spoke the man, flipping the grip on his weapon around to point downward before plunging forward. Time once again decided to slow again for Demon, as it always had whenever he was close to witnessing death, and he saw the cold steel edging closer and closer to his chest, right where his heart would be, and all he could feel was regret… regret for not being able to save those he cared about. Something he would have little time to think about as the tip cracked through the front of his armour and into the skin beneath… or would have.

Instead, it came into contact with the strange crystalline structure currently moulded into Demon's chest, the final parting gift from Salem all those weeks ago in the Vale hospital.

And that… woke something far worse beneath the surface.

 **"What a pain… must I do everything myself…"**


	31. And on that day, all shall kneel

**Well ladies I can't tell you how hard it is to say goodbye after so long... after everything I've done, this story really has been great to me...**

 **Which is why I ain't bloody leaving this bastard unfinished as long as I live! HA! Bet I had you going there for a bit! In all honest though, this story is NOT dead! I repeat, it is NOT dying in the bottom of some ditch on the side of the road while rabid dogs pee on its corpse!**

 **Tempest: Rather specific there... Wait, what's this! You're finally releasing another GOD DAMNED chapter!**

 **That would be correct good sir! After the cluster**** of the last few months, the latest chapter of my shitty story has been released, after several HUNDRED hours of my friends yelling at me to get it done. Ya boi here has been busy doing life stuff over the last few months as I finally managed to get a brand spanking new laptop, but of course since THAT has happened, I've had like 2 seconds of spare time during the week thanks to the monumental work load I've had to deal with, which means the super slow speed I actually write this has delayed the chapter a bit...**

 **Tempest: A bit... A BIT! TRY BLOODY TWO MONTHS!**

 **Well yes... a rather long bit of time. But, without further adieu I shall stop spewing excuses and I'll let ya'll who are still here after my little break continue on with the story!**

 **Chapter 28:**

Grimm, for want of better explanation, were not ones to know the feeling of fear. It was a foreign concept to them, much as the likes of technology was, yet it wasn't completely alien. Their lady did not permit them to accept such emotions and so it was often tempered by hate, driven towards whatever was causing this unnatural emotion, leaving little room for the contemplation of such an emotion within their minds.

Yet, as the Grimm hybrid ran through the forest he knew fear. It was as real as the grass underneath his paws, as real as the ragged breaths which were exiting his hoarse throat from the exertion… and as real as the large oaken tree careening straight towards him through the air.

"Watch it!" came a shout from beside him, one of the other humans which was similarly embedded in his plight, a needless shout but one which was received all the same. The human's black armor was a crude approximation of the nightmarish black which the Grimm constituted from and the bone-white skull over its face was even more of a mockery, but even in this plight, he felt himself forgiving these transgressions more and more.

Focusing back onto the problem at hand, a plan was hurtling through his mind as his Semblance took control to begin its work, his mind praying that it would be enough to escape with his life. With little more than a thought he pumped a burst of Aura into his legs, sending his form hurtling violently out of his path through the bunches of trees which they now ran through, wincing slightly as he heard the colossal snapping sound as the barked projectile made contact.

Its form seemed to halt in transit before it split into two sheared halves, a massive flaming mace stopping it in its tracks like an immovable fortress, the wielder grunting mildly from the exertion, but turning and continuing to run almost immediately after the massive logs tore into the earth either side to rent colossal tracks in the dirt.

Even in his remarkable prolonged life, this was not something he had ever considered even remotely likely of occurring… it was simply inconceivable that which he witnessed, a fact compounded even moreso by the fear and concern emanating from the two enemies-turned-allies which he now hastily beat a retreat with.

Again, his ears twitched as he heard the blundering form which pursued them through the woods, the quiet and harsh sound of the air parting from another projectile causing him to growl in annoyance. It was all a game, one which he had been pulled into and made to eat the proverbial cheese from the trap's very vices.

 **"Worm, there is another attack incoming"** he spoke through gritted teeth, pushing away the lancing pain shooting through his leg after he had the misfortune of twisting his ankle, sending a pulse of Aura to keep it under control as his full-pelt sprint was interrupted momentarily by the jolt.

In response to his mildly obvious statement, the human in black pulled out his sword, throwing it behind him at blinding speeds to impale into the wood already hurtling through the air. Moments later a thick streak of lightning shot forth from the human's arm and connected with the sword, sending arcs through the length of the massive tree, pulsing for a second until the entire construct shattered into thousands of tiny splinters with a burst of lightning.

The sword seemingly evaporated and appeared once again in the boy's hands, his running continuing unabated as with the rest of them despite the hail of tiny wooden fragments bombarding them from what was the remnants of the uprooted tree.

"Christ will this thing ever give up!" complained the human, once again speaking almost completely useless words for no benefit other than its own given the situation. As if responding to the words, a roar echoed through the forest, once again sending a spike of fear through each of their backs and into the forefront of their mind, each one of them shuddering from the unnatural sound.

As loath as he was to admit it, the Grimm hybrid could not help but admit to the futility of this situation, he was unsure if any of them would make it out alive should they confront the beast which made haste behind them. It was disgusting… not once had he run from a fight in the thousands of passings in which he dwelled on this world and yet this… abomination… was the one thing which made him run with his tail between his legs, feeling like nothing more than a pup in the utterly overwhelming presence of this creature.

It was nothing if not primal… an almost unavoidable feeling of being crushed under nothing but the weight of the soul in which presence he stood. And he hated every second of it.

"We have little chance of surviving if we keep running, a stand should be made to weaken it before continuing" spoke the other human clad in red, a trail of earth coming up behind him as his arm was struggling to bear the weight of his mace more and more, the fire bursting from his shoulders flickering more and more with each passing moment.

 **"As much as I would like to agree with you worm, it is utter suicide should we face it for any prolonged period… it is… unnatural, and I doubt someone of even your 'prowess' would be privy to how to bring it low"** retorted the Grimm, doubling his efforts as he saw several of his kin ahead, mentally overriding their weak wills to bring their bodies under his rule, sending them to provide whatever distraction they could to aid in their plight.

The humans watched the small pack of beowolves bound in opposition to them, only to hear the sickening crunching of bones and the sight of the broken corpse of one of them fly through the air and become impaled on one of the jutting branches from an oak, its head lacking most of its jaw, the entire lower half of its body lacking in any form as well except for the last remaining remnants of its spine which were still dangling from its seared flesh.

"What the hell is that thing!" shouted the black coated human, his cry at the same times a plead and a declaration of the mere travesty that the creature behind them was on existence itself.

 **"It is a creature which should have ceased walking Remnant many thousands of tides ago… it is not something which I had hoped to see for quite some time and even now is unfavourable"**

"Well, you seem to know what it is, how the hell do we beat this thing! That bastard is built like a tank and I distinctly remember leaving my big bloody tank gun back at home!"

 **"I will forgive your tongue human, but I too lack insight into how to defeat such a monstrosity, every moment he walks on this world is more power for his soul, there is no such method to his destruction which I can fathom"**

"Screw this then!" came his indignant cry, both the humans stopping at once as they turned around and bared their weapons, ready to face the beast. The Grimm for once was shocked into inaction… surely these humans felt the crushing feelings that its mere presence wrought onto the world around them, and yet they would stand in the way of such a thing with no surety of any successful blows making purchase… truly the stupidity of humans would never cease to amaze him.

"Wolf man, you can stay if you want but we're going to down fighting so get out of here if you want… we're finishing our damned mission even if it means busting through THAT to get to our target"

 **"I would say you are insane, but your words hold no indication of ill mind…"**

"If that was meant to be an insult you're going to have to try better, little ol' Hawk over here could do better by making a 'your mum' joke in that lovingly monotone voice"

"Stone, would you please just shut the hell up and focus, I'd rather not be turned to paste immediately"

"See! Just like that!" he mused, laughing at his own joke in the manner of a madman, already ensured of his death, waiting upon the steps of heaven for his end-time to arrive… and arrive it did.

In the time the Grimm-born had stopped to marvel at the humans, he had allowed his senses to wander and failed to track his enemy, that was until it was right upon them. Without so much as a breath to register the intrusion, he felt a force impact against his shoulder, jarring his entire body and knocking the wind out of him, barely leaving anything further to break when his body impacted into the ground within the blink of an eye.

The energy to fight was almost instantaneously ripped from his body, fatigue plaguing his muscles as he embraced the almost warm soil with which he was buried within. That was until his adrenaline kicked in once more and a burst of Aura put him several metres away from his impact, giving him a good view of the ground being thoroughly obliterated by a second impact mere moments later.

The dirt settled, and all was still for some time as the combatants were given some sort of respite from their pursuer. That was until it was broken by the maniacal laughter of their enemy.

 **"Come now, surely you would not deny a hunter of his prey!"** came a deep and guttural tone from the figure in front of them, spoken through rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth which were housed within jaws which were anything but natural.

Its body was another matter entirely. It easily dominated the forest, standing almost as tall as the trees around them with muscles that dwarfed even the thickness of the trees. Spikes protruded from across the rippling black carapace which coated its body, dripping with a viscous black substance which only the observant would notice dissolving the grass below upon which it dripped. A great tail protruded from the base of its spine, its lazy swinging doing nothing to reduce its deadly potential as two almost axe-like bone appendages jutted from its end, keening vast swathes through the air with every movement.

What was most prominent however were the two colossal wings which were draped across its back like some form of cloak almost, velvety hide splayed across bat-like wings which inspired awe and dread into the hearts of those who had the unfortunate luck to witness them in their full glory. The beast wrought many emotions, all of them stemming from the sheer abnormality of its existence, overshadowing the strange composition of the Grimm almost entirely.

This… this was something no mortal was ever meant to gaze upon, a being which radiated power like a great beacon… none of the three present needed any more indication than what they felt right now to know that this monster was far, FAR above them on the food chain.

 **"Alpha, it truly is an honor to see you"** spoke the Grimm borne, hoping that he could be distracted long enough to allow his Semblance to take effect. The beast turned its eyes to bore into the Beowolf's, the Grimm having to down every urge to run.

 **"You are one of the Shifters, correct? Very interesting, I was under the impression that your species had died out some time ago. Such a shame that I shall have to end such a bloodline here, but such is the workings of fate"**

Now that… that stung hard. His species was young, younger than the Grimm, even younger than Humans and Faunus for that matter, but they had lived a far shorter rein. As soon as the Grimm War of old had broken out, they were hunted by both sides to extinction and as far as he knew he himself was the last remaining Shifter to walk upon this world. Rather than keep the rage down he brought it to the front of his mind, relishing as his anger now pushed aside the fear, allowing him to focus more and more upon the beast.

Sparing a glance around him, he saw the two Humans, their eyes betraying their fear even though they defiantly held their weapons, their knuckles no doubt white with how tightly they were choking the leather hilt wrappings. They had drive, that was for sure, but if he himself and his new allies had any chance of making it out alive, he would need to direct it…

 **"Do not fret Alpha, I shall be merciful and grant you a quick death lest I show you a fraction of my power and leave these two worms with little to do"**

He was pushed to flip backwards in the seconds after he spoke, a fist careening for where his face had been situated mere moments before, disrupting the air around it with its power and sending more dirt flying as it crashed into the ground.

 **"Do not speak to me as though I am lesser, you pathetic whelp, your existence is my gift and my charity is growing thin"**

The two shared hate filled glares, daring the other to make the first move so that they could begin their show of strength… that was until they were interrupted by the human wearing black.

"Don't you think that's a little bullshit?"

The two looked down at the two humans standing off to the side, almost equally annoyed with the interruption, expecting the human to back down with the combined glares of the two of them, only to fall short when he stepped forward again and began sliding his blades over one another. Before the first human could elaborate, the other human in red stepped forward.

"I think what my companion was trying to say is, you're claiming that you are an Alpha, yet we've faced bigger and more powerful Grimm"

At those words, the great beast growled in a low predatory tone, stepping forward and stooping down to stare into his eyes, leaving mere inches between the two.

 **"Pathetic human, please do elaborate on WHAT Grimm would claim to be more powerful than I am? I could skewer a Beowolf with nothing more than a flick, I could bite the head off an Ursa like it was nothing more than one of your fruits, Boarbatusks break against my hide when they charge, Nevermore's feathers are nothing more than toothpicks to me and my cloaks are fashioned from the hide of Goliaths! So please, do tell me how it is ME who is the inferior here!"**

The human then had the GALL to laugh in his face. That alone was enough to warrant a swift death and had he not just heard such insults spew from this creature's mouth they would already be skewered upon his claws. He was only mildly interested in what the thing had to say, so after the air had left his mouth he would be sure to let him bleed out while he dealt with the other two problems.

"Let me enlighten you to something beast. Power isn't always strength, as I've been told several times before, and with that along I already know for a fact that there are SEVERAL Grimm far more powerful than you. But do you want to know WHY I know that?"

The growl that came forth next was one of pure hatred and all that were present knew that he was cutting it thin with his words. He stepped forward and stared the Grimm beast in the eyes with a look which screamed both mischief and victory, emanating the emotions even through the dark red helmet he wore.

"Because a smarter Grimm would have noticed that it had already lost"

With a moment of confusion, the beast's eyes widened, quickly rearing back to try and find the other human which had only been standing there mere moments earlier, now nothing more than scorched grass indicating he had stood there. That was until they made themselves known when two swords plunged deep into his back, right between his shoulder blades and into the muscles which would carry him aloft on his great wings.

That was the case until hundreds of thousands of Volts of electricity began coursing through the two offending blades, cooking his muscles like he was over a spit and causing his wings to spasm out at random angles as pain racked his body. Letting out an ear-splitting howl, he reached behind and grasped a hold of the human, flinging them into the nearest tree and snapping the wood in twain, setting his hatred filled eyes upon his next target, only to find them gone as well.

Feeling the temperature beside him increase immensely, his arm swept out to crush anything that stood in his way, but all he seemed to meet was thin air. As his head swivelled to see just what had happened, he barely had any time to twist it to the side as the flaming head of a mace filled his vision. Being caught in the off-hand for once, he did not have enough time to avoid it completely and felt the jarring impact upon his face, as well as rather alarmingly the sound of breaking bone. When his vision stopped spinning, he was met with the sight of the end of one of his horns standing proudly embedded into the forest floor, the two humans standing side-by-side next to their trophy.

With little patience left, the beast was seeing red and he would not be brought so low by these to PATHETIC creatures. His fist shot out and slammed the one in red into the floor, only for his companion to suddenly piece two more swords into his fist and deliver another massive pulse of electricity through the conduits, burning his fist into a charred mess.

Roaring in rage, the beast stumbled back and glared daggers at the humans as the one he had just pummelled slowly stood up from the crater he had previously been in, pieces of his armour falling to the ground as the broken metal was wrought clean from the rest of the piece.

When the beast looked down at his fist, his rage only amplified when he tried to flex the muscles, finding his fingers unresponsive to the stimulation, feeling the same sensation when he tried to move the wings upon his back.

Never before had he been brought so low in so long, yet he felt resentment at his own body for being so weak. Maybe he had overestimated the amount of power he had left within his stores, but even these stupid humans shouldn't be a problem. So then, why could he not turn them into paste with nothing more than a thought at his fist. No… these humans would feel the power of his wrath, they would kneel before their superior so long as he drew breath… and they would know what a mistake it was to make an enemy with a Shinigami.

 **"Try that again Human, it shall not occur in your favour anymore"** he warned, pooling energies into his fists as the eldritch energy knitted his muscles back into operation. With more energy, he directed his sight into their souls and noted that both these human's aura was plummeting with each fight they entered, bringing a smile to his face as he realised their confidence was merely a façade to cover their weakness.

"Pffffft, you believe this guy Hawk? Dumbass thinks he can take us!" noted the black human once again in a mocking tone, spinning those insipid blades around like toys. His partner thankfully did not respond, instead choosing to keep channelling his aura into creating a flaming cloak around his body and further heating the head of his mace to become white-hot.

 **"You should follow your companion human, he knows that your words will do little to save your life. One more blow and your body shall break, and this forest shall be painted red with blood"**

"Oh really, come and hit me then!" taunted Stone once more.

Before he could come up with another jab at the beast, he would have to once again disappear in a burst of static to avoid the fist which exploded into the ground where he had been standing. The red armoured human of course tried to bring his mace down upon the fist which was now embedded into the ground, although nothing connected when he was thrown to the floor when a thick tail slammed into his back.

The beast smirked and flicked out his wings to their full span and spun around in a blindingly fast maelstrom, feeling even more vindication as he felt his wings connect with something and send it flying. Knowing he was free from the other human, he focused once again on the one who was in the process of trying to burn him with the flame-shield which covered his armour.

Of course, it was little concern to him and the beast's claws wrapped around the human even as the flames coursed across his skin and began cooking him where he stood. With more energy pumped through his fist, the flames were doing little more than burning away the dirt now and the human was made well aware of that fact when his fist began squeezing the blood sack within his grip.

The sound of rending metal graced his ears and his smirk only grew larger. Feeling a disturbance once more his tail flicked out as fast as lightning and only barely missed the other human who had been trying to stab him while his focus lay elsewhere. Of course, a moment later he felt the two pin-pricks of the swords embedding themselves into the thick meat of his tail.

Unlike last time, however, he made good to flare the spines along his entire body and had to quell a laugh that would have escaped when the electricity which now pumped through his veins began arcing from the spines across his body and dispersing harmlessly into the ground. Flicking his tail before the other human could extract the blades, they were flung across the clearing and embedded within a tree, a small victory for the beast which was relished while it lasted.

Which was not very long considering mere moments later he felt those same two pricks in his legs, barely kicking out quick enough to dislodge them before the electricity could course through again. Slamming his flaming prey into the ground, he eyes darted across the clearing and found the two blades vanished, now in the hands of the human who was running circles around him with blinding speed, darting in with a speed which could only be rivalled by lightning and stabbing his blades into the gaps in the beast's armoured carapace.

The spines on the beast's tail flared once more, although this time in a quantity which engulfed the entire end of the tail to a point where it resembled the head of a flail… that was, at least, until with the whipping of the appendage they were shot out like bullets and began scything around the clearing trying to catch the human between what he could tell were short teleportation bursts.

While he was distracted, the red armoured human once again made his way to his feet, picked up his discarded mace, and began running forward to smash into his target, causing only more annoyed grunts to be issued from the beast's mouth. The battle continued like this for a time, neither side seeming to gain any ground, that was until Stone decided to try and end it then and there.

Using a feint to distract his foe, he disappeared in a flash of static and appeared behind the beast's back, once again between its shoulder blades as its colossal wings beat the air around him. Funnelling the electricity into the swords, he stabbed them both into the base of the beast's neck, grinning as lightning began arcing out across the blackened body.

Although, it didn't quite end how he had expected it to. Suddenly the electricity stopped, not of his own volition but it seemed to be siphoned straight from his Semblance into the beast… and began condensing in a bright blue light around the beast's fists, a strange black energy mixing with the lightning like a writhing mass of tentacles. With one massive roar, the beast brought down both of its fists into the earth below it and a massive shockwave of dark black lightning boomed out from the impact, sending wood splinters, rocks and dirt everywhere.

Of course, the two humans were collected within the blast and were sent flying from the force, struggling to right themselves from the shock and both slamming into trees to halt their flight, the tell-tale dissipation of their aura accompanying the impact. Neither made any moves to pick themselves up as fatigue overtook their bodies from pushing their aura and muscles to the limit in a battle which could only have lasted little more than a minute.

Even after feeling the dense footsteps pad towards their bodies, they made little movement as they were systematically picked up and lifted to look into the eyes of the great beast, its eyes swirling with a strange flickering blue and black.

 **"Such a disappointment…"** it muttered, looking between the two of them with a mix of both rage and annoyance, both humans smirking to themselves when they saw this. Even though their armour was rent and melted from the battle and their bones shattered from the monumental force that this beast could bring to bear, they both felt a manner of satisfaction within their chests, knowing that despite this they had landed more than a few good hits against this thing.

 **"Now, I must tell you this is where it shall end. You have failed your pathetic attempt to bring me low, your souls shall do good to feed my fire and know that your energies shall be put to good use to fuel the Alpha of all Grimm…"**

"Who said… we were… trying to kill you?" choked out Stone, laughing out loud when he saw confusion now etched across the beast's face. Hawk was sure right when he pinned the beast as not exactly being the sharpest tool in the shed when it came to intellect. But getting so many over on something that could probably take on the entirety of Vale and win certainly brought a smile to his face.

 **"ALPHA! COME AND FACE ME!"** came a new voice, a guttural growl which was neither the Grimm animalistic tones of their previous companion, or anything he had heard come from a mortal's mouth… but something else entirely.

With baited breath, the beast turned its head to find a third human within their clearing, a glowing maelstrom of aura surrounding them and sending flittering embers of Grimm essence into the air around them. Their eyes, two glowing red orbs within the madness betrayed just who they were, for the beast knew these eyes belonged to the wretched Shifter from before. But this energy… it should be unattainable for such a mortal to wield. This energy was born from an Alpha, energy which was the primordial essence of the world from before mortals ever graced the face of Remnant.

And only after the aural storm faded did the beast's deepest concerns find root. For once the Shifter's aura had blinked out of existence the change began. Great feathered wings burst forth from the human's back, black fur sprouting from along its arms and legs as bone which talons burst forth into sickeningly sharp scythes whilst a roar of pain echoed forth from the now wolf-like snout which took the place of its head.

 **"Alpha, I am Beovulfe Jur Dunne, the last in the line of Shifters… and I am your Death!"**

Whilst it spoke, the transformation had finished taking hold, the once human or Grimm body now just as unnatural as the Alpha he addressed and just as fearsome. Its body looked exceedingly similar to that of a simple Beowolf, only now it stood almost as tall as a Goliath, with great Nevermore wings sprouting like some demented fallen angel. Tusks jutted out from its jaw and its paws were thickened and muscled to rival even that of an Ursa. What was truly horrific about it were the multitude of glowing purple crystals jutting from its back like some sort of solid spine, the largest pulsing with an energy which was almost physically tangible in the air, an energy which made the Grimm feel just as uneasy as when the transformation started.

The beast which held the humans threw them to the side with a deft flick of its fist, discarding them in the face of much bigger prey. It went unspoken between the two, yet both knew what this signified… the Alpha was being challenged and whoever came out on top here would be forever known as victor… and Kalazar would be damned before the day ever came where that would not be him laying claim to that title. Pulsing the last shreds of energy he had pulled from the soul of the human, energy arced across his body and sealed the cuts and cracked plates which landed during his last bout.

 **"Your line ends here Shifter… by the name of Kalazar Shinigami I shall cut your head from your shoulders"**

The two looked at each other from across the already broken ground, sizing up each other with equal intentions of making the other realise that it was they who were the prey… yet neither would yield. And so, at an unspoken command, the two titans clashed in a monumental duel of the ages, one which could be felt by every living soul who was willing to listen…

 **[Haven Academy Grand Hall]**

"Thank you for coming on such short notice…" came the modest voice of one Professor Lionheart of Haven Academy, motioning with is hand to greet his new visitors to his meeting, flashing a strangely forced smile for them whilst he stood at the balcony overlooking the hall.

Qrow giving a large and drawn out sigh was the only response he received, however, as the others elected to stay silent while they approached. Beside the veteran Huntsman stood Kira, Jaeger, Tempest and Markus, their weapons slung over their backs as deterrents in the event Demon wasn't being cooperative, whilst the most out-of-place of the group was Oscar who shuffled in behind the group, looking around the room with wonderment.

"Come on Lionheart, spit it out, we've got better things to be doing so this little meeting you called better be worth it" retorted the Branwen, a swig from his flask accompanying his statement as the other occupants took the time to join Oscar in his appraisal of the massive hall.

It was quite a spectacle for to behold given its colossal size and rather intricate décor, rich mahogany wood decorated the two-story structure while rich carpets and tapestries decorated the floors and awnings. At the centre of it all was the balcony Lionheart now stood upon, upheld by a stone statue depicting an exotic woman with golden embellishments chained to her wrists and waist, her arms holding up the platform like an eternal vigil.

"Why… did you bring your weapons?" asked Lionheart, avoiding Qrows jab while at the same time posing his rather strange query, doing nothing more than set warning bells of in his visitor's minds.

"We're Huntsmen, Leo, it's kinda our thing…" sceptically answered the grizzled uncle, his eyebrows raised in confusion at how strangely the Academy Headmaster was being.

At that response, however, conflict began brewing upon the man's visage, which was not too subtle on his part and easily picked up by those who were looking, which seemed to be everyone except a certain Scientist who seemed much more intent on observing the platform below with a mystically glowing right eye.

"Pardon my intrusion Headmaster, but were you aware that the platform you are on acts as an elevator" posed Markus, his eyes cryptically taking glances up and down the statue while his free hand tapped incessantly on the dataslate held within the grips of his left.

"You're… not supposed to know about that" he exclaimed, looking down upon the group as panic began to set in.

"Oh yes, no doubt, I'm afraid my Semblance does allow me to gain a view through solid objects and I was perplexed as to why an elevator would need to descend several stories below ground"

"Of course, another totally relevant plot device brought in by the Author to try and continue the scene!" commented Tempest in is usual completely annoying tone as the Author continue to contemplate if it really was worth keeping him in the story.

Before the annoying tick could be erased from all existence, however, they were interrupted by Qrow shifting his weapon in a blindingly fast flick and sending a spray of shrapnel into one of the rafters of the building, displacing a bird which swooped down behind Lionheart… and shifted into a Woman on the other side?

"What the hell?" muttered Kira, quickly pulling her rifle off her back and racking a bolt, followed by the rest of the weapons held by the Pilots. The woman which they now saw looked exceedingly similar to Demon in every way and it clicked not a few moments later that this must be his mother, or at least a similar relation if the resemblance was anything to go off.

"If you're going to shoot me, then shoot me. That was just insulting" mocked the voice from behind the Grimm mask, choosing to take off said helmet after finishing her introduction, revealing calculating red eyes and a face which was all too similar to their resident blonde brawler.

"WHAT are you doing here?" snarled Qrow as he aimed the point of his sword at the woman, appearing rather ticked off at her presence.

"I could ask you the same thing dear little brother… You've been scheming, and unfortunately for you you're on the wrong side"

"Raven, you have the Spring Maiden, if we work together we can beat Salem once and for all!"

"All this time spying for Ozpin and you still haven't learned… the power she wields is beyond anything you can even fathom, how do you expect to be able to win against THAT!"

"You were there on the frontier sis, you know how everything was going to hell and yet we were able to pull through! This is no different!"

"It is ENTIRELY different, you daft bird! This isn't a fight we can win, the sooner you can see that the better chance you have of living"

Qrow shook his head and lowered his weapon, his eyes pleading for some end to their bickering, yet hopeless in their hoping as he knew from the beginning there simply was no arguing with his sister.

"You know I can't do that Raven… and neither will Hawk"

"He will see how fruitless his endeavours are once he has that damnable Grimm erased from his soul… then maybe you'll finally see reason… unfortunately for you, I doubt you'll get to see that day"

Moving her hands over to the hilt of her blade, she drew it in a flared swipe and a writhing red portal burst into existence beside her, several figures stepping through the rent in space to greet those within the hall.

"Well hello boys and girls…" came the suave and sickly-sweet tone of Cinder Fall, her hips swaying as she strutted through the portal flanked by her green and grey minions, smirks gracing their faces as they silently laughed at their prey. Last to step through was another woman unknown to everyone there, besides Raven apparently as the two shared a quick look, with two large bladed rings rested in her hands.

"What have you done Raven…" Qrow breathed, his despair written across his features while said woman merely scoffed in response.

"You would have done the same Qrow, at least this way I can save my son before I lose him again"

The new combatants raised their weapons and were met with the barrels of the Pilots challenging them, a tense stand-off taking place in the hall as neither side made a move to attack. That was how it stayed for a few moments until both sides charged, wordless warcries echoed across the halls as weapons were shifted into melee forms.

Before they could meet, however, they were interrupted by the main doors bursting open in an explosion of purple before a winged figure flew through the open portal and landed roughly against the floor while another lithe form rolled to the side beside them, roped daggers clattering to the floor in the crash.

"WE FOUND DEMON!" cried their intruder, Rosaline standing up from the crash to wipe aside the hair which fell across her eyes… and allowing her to see just what she had burst in to. "Well, this is awkward…"

 **[Mistral Forests – Neo]**

…

Always…

With… This… STUPID RUNNING

As soon as Demon turned back to normal, she was going to slap him on behalf of her legs, because with the amount of running he was making her do she wouldn't be walking for a damned week!

After his surprise 'shift', the three girls were left dumbfounded in the clearing whilst the two bounty hunters, the Beowolf and their new 'companion' ran off on some wild chase through the trees. After they had re-found their bearings it took a few moments of arguing to make clear what would happen in this rather intense situation. With little idea of just what the hell was going on, Rosaline would take Emmily and herself back to Ozpin to try and find out just WHAT in the world that massive Grimm thing was, while Neo… well, Neo was tasked with trying to find them in this forest.

It wasn't all that hard, considering how many destroyed trees and the line of destruction which followed her little group, but they moved so GOD DAMNED FAST! Even after running for almost ten minutes she still couldn't find them!

At least, until she FELT them. Her bones rattled as some shockwave of force boomed throughout the forest, shaking the trees and bending the grass, putting all her hairs on end as static flowed across her body. Twisting herself to run towards the source, it wasn't long until shockwaves were booming throughout the forest in intervals which felt more like a beating than anything else.

After coming across several broken trees and scorched grass, she drew her misericorde and stalked towards the source of the boomings. And that's when she saw just what was happening. The fight… was like nothing she had ever seen before. Two colossal giants engaged in brutal brawl of sheer strength against strength, clashing in the open clearing and sending ripples of power and energy each time they met. The blade in her hand suddenly felt woefully inadequate and she was glad that Rosaline had left to gather back-up because she had no doubt that even with their combined strength they would not be able to put a dent in either of these titans.

Stalking around the edges of the battlefield, she caught sight of two disturbances in the green of the forest, the two humans who had previously attacked Demon laying face-down in the dirt. Their armour was cracked and melted so much that she doubted they were even alive encased within their metal tombs, but surprisingly enough she felt faint pulses from the both of them when she checked, genuinely shocked that the two had survived such an obvious beating.

Taking out her misericorde, she made to put them out of their misery, after all they were the ones to attack them without cause… yet her blade stopped just above their exposed throats. Maybe… this wasn't the right way. For so long she had been forced to kill to survive, but now was her chance to fix her ways… she was better than this. The way Blake and Weiss looked at her after killing the White Fang grunts in Menagerie truly made her feel disgusting, but now she could change that. These people were no longer a threat and they would be dealt with accordingly. The irony was not lost on Neo as she carefully moved them to a nearby tree and propped them up against it… she would finally be going to the police willingly for a change.

Turning her attention back to the fight which was still raging, she felt unease begin to surface as she noticed how bad a shape the Demon-thing was in. Two of the horns on its head were snapped off, the bones in its left wing were clearly broken given how it limply hung draped on the ground, and the skin around its right leg was mangled so much that it looked like it had been put through a meat grinder.

Yet the thing fought like nothing had even happened, bashing aside fists sent at it by the other Grimm-beast to land blows of his own upon its opponent. The Beowolf-thing looked almost as worse for ware, sporting several open wounds across its body and one of the large crystals upon its back lay shattered across the ground, spewing dark purple energy like liquid on the forest floor.

The fight looked like it could go either way, neither giving an inch of ground which wasn't punished by a brutal counter attack or from a colossal burst of energy which slammed into the other with a sickening crunch. This was how the wars of old were fought, not with firearms or blades, but tooth against claw as one side vied to crush the others spirit and body with decisive blows.

It was so entrancing to watch this pure display of power that Neo almost didn't notice the wind buffeting her hair sporadically… almost. Her eyes turned to the skies and what she saw only made her fears worsen, for blocking her view of the blue expanse above was a massive Airship unlike anything she had seen before, with guns which put the Atlesian Airships to shame…

As the belly of the craft opened to send down Bullhead-like crafts, her mind struggled to comprehend just what she was looking at, finding only one piece of the puzzle which would fit into place. Emblazoned upon the side of the ship was a large emblem which she had seen once before on the Rosaline girl's armour… three large letters reading… I.M.C.


End file.
